GATE: When worlds collide
by Kurogems1208
Summary: Not just one, but two Gates have been opened. Saderan Empire takes this opportunity to try to invade both at the same time. But, when the army comes through those gates, they will find out that: their proud strength are nothing compared to these worlds. Contains some OCs, one of them is OP, be advised.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own GATE or any other materials being in this story. They belong to their respective producers. What I own only are my OCs and my stories, which are non-profitable.**

**English is not my native language, so forgive me if there are some clumsy errors in the story.**

**For more info, I will put another AN in the end of the chapter. Enjoy the first chapter everyone!**

* * *

"The third attack is coming, mister Formal. Do you have anything to say in your defense? After all, you are the one of the few who's reasonable here."

The conversation's held in a dark room, with only a small table lamp as the only mean of keeping this place lighten up. The room itself is not very big, only around 5m x 5m in size, with the height of the ceiling being around three meters. Due to its purpose, the room doesn't hold much items, aside from a metallic table, a couple of chairs, the lamp itself and a recorder. But, it serves its purpose well.

The conversation is held by two persons. One of them is in his mid-twenty, with short black hair which bang is covering his forehead. His skin is pale…no, not exactly. His skin is a mixture of yellowy and pale grey, with the former being showed the most. He wears black-framed glasses, and his black eyes are focusing on the man before him. His outfit consists of a white lab coat, a white shirt underneath and black jeans combined with black shoes. He's placing his hands under his chin, the left hand having three rings on the middle fingers of the hand. The watch on the left arm is ticking as he speaks.

"I… I have nothing." The other replies. He's in his late-fifty, with long grey hair and a scar running through his left eye, though thankfully he still has the eye. His noble suit has been taken away, replaced with the familiar orange prisoner outfit. He's not restrained by any means, but after what he has gone through, he knows that the one interrogating him doesn't need to do so to him. "But please, don't hurt our people. They did nothing wrong." His voice is a bit panicked, considering his Empire has done terrible punishments to the ones not following them. He fears that this world would do the same thing.

Thankfully, it's not the case. "If we want to do so, then we have no reasons to keep you alive. To us, the dead soldiers of yours didn't deserve what they received, but you have to understand that, you invaded us without good reasons, and we have to respond. We know it's not exactly your fault, that's why we have given you all the chance to have a peaceful treat with us. Of course, after this attack is ceased."

The Count looks at the man before him. He looks just as old as some of his young maids, but after hearing what the guards here talking to them, the person is older and wiser than any of them. Then the interrogator continues: "If you want your people to be safe, then help me negotiating with your Empire about the treat between you and 'that world'. And I have to tell you, that's the only way for your Empire to not be crushed by the other nations' leaders… along with the first world you have tried to invade with no success."

"I… We don't even have a choice here, do we?" He asks back, a bit shakily at the thought of the humiliation.

"It's not humiliation. It's the common sense of a sentient being wanting to keep themselves alive." The Count widens his eyes in shock, clearly not expected that the interrogator can read his mind. "Though, the other choice is to die. Considering none of you want to die, I'm ignoring that one. How does that sound?"

That makes the room drown in silence, as the prisoner weighs his options. On one hand, the person before him will guarantee the prisoners' safety AND their Empire from the wrath of the other leaders and another world, but that could mark him as betrayers. But, if they refuse, this world would just return them back, and then they will be punished for their failures. Either way, they will be tagged with bad titles.

But, during the time they're here, they haven't treated badly at all. In fact, whoever got wounded after the fights were healed back in a short amount of time. They're not even tied up at any points, though if they tried to run or fight back, they would end up getting shocked by their thunder spells, which were not lethal at all. When they behaved, the guards would do nothing but watching them, no signs of going to interrogate them by themselves. Only one has questioned them so far, and that's man before him.

"We will take the offer. But…"

"I will keep the promise. If I don't, there are people that would be PISSED at me." The young man then stands up and straight his right hand forward. Count does the same, as when they have done this deal before, and he learnt that's just a greeting method. Then the young man walks to the door and knocks it, and a second later it opens, letting the bright light of the sun filling the door. He gestures the Count to follow him, and he has to comply. When he's out, he sees two guards standing next to the door, bowing respectfully to the young man, who nods back in return. Then he walks away to the prison, which makes Colt to follow him quickly.

During the walk, he looks around the place he is in. Never in his life has he seen places that's so clean like here. Every corner is like an art of itself, with no flaws to be seen. Every single structure's built with precise measures, and they're likely to be blessed with beauty by the Gods themselves. When they first invaded this world, he has seen how gorgeous and glorious the buildings were. He already had some fears about how strong this city's army could be, but that thought was pushed behind when his soldiers started their attacks. The people before them just ran away with no means of fighting back, and because of their ideals of battles, they just ended up swinging their weapons to those runaways. However, when their weapons collided…

"Mister Formal." The young man's voice snaps him back to reality. "We're here."

Ah, the prison. And that's a change as well, in a good way. He is never one to like a prison, given how many times he has gotten down to these places to 'punish' the crimes, hell, even he didn't do it on his own if he has any choices. He has never thought of trying to create a crime, just so he wouldn't stay there for any amount of time short of more than an hour. But here… it feels nothing like what a prison could be. At least, comparing to the one in the Empire's capital. One thing first, is about when it was built. About a few days they have been captured and got sent here, after overhearing the guards talking loudly to each other, they found out that this place was built by ONE PERSON, in A FEW SECONDS after the first fight ended. And when they asked for the name of the person, they answered back…

He walks into his 'room', which consists of two beds, one table, two chairs and his current partner, one of the knights under his command. And that's another change here: Aside from the room being cleaner, max to two prisoners will be in one room, and they HAVE to 'get along' with each other, the least is that they don't fight. Once the knight sees him, he immediately bows to his leader, and he greets back with a nod.

"A last word before we meet again, Colt Formal." The Count turns back to the interrogator. "Think of this for yourself: Which Empire are you serving? The one you're being under control, or the one you and your people wish it to become? Answer that question, and you will know if your choice is correct or not." With that, the interrogator just walks away, leaving the confused prisoners behind.

"Sir." The knight asks the Count. "What did you two talk?"

"Nothing further than the matters he has addressed before."

Yes, that was not the first time they talked. The interrogator has held up many interrogations before, but most of them were just about the reason they attacked his 'nation'. And their answer was always the same: to conquer the place and turn it into their control. And then later on, the question has changed to: Did everyone desire for this to happen? That caused the prisoners to separate into two sides: One agreed, while the other opposed. He and his knights were on the later one. Violence is not what they want to make the Empire be more glorious than it already had. He takes no fun in killing any beings, and he will never make it as his habit. He followed the Empire's orders because his city would be in problems if he didn't. That doesn't apply to everyone.

"Although, he did say that people will be pissed at him if he didn't keep his promise."

"From what we heard about his feats, I doubt there's someone who could scare him."

"Who knows? But now, facts are that we're the prisoners of this world and we have to accept that."

The two of them then sigh and sit on their beds. Then, the knight asks: "Do you think our relatives thought that we're dead?"

"Definitely. The Empire will raise fear, or confidence, on the normal citizens with some make-up stories like 'they died for our causes' or so. And with that, more people come, more people die."

"But…" A blue light interrupts their conversation, as they look at the thing causing that. "Another one of those news?"

Colt takes a closer look… and grimaces. "No. The third, and final battle before the invasion… from this side."

* * *

Location: Battlefield, in front of the Gate

"They don't give up, do they?" One of the leaders of the nations asks in annoyance. "Haven't they already guessed what happened to the previous attacks?"

"It's about their prides as well. Human tends to do everything just to protect it." The interrogator places his left hand on the handle of his left katana. "That's what makes us… a little different than the other races."

"You know you have surpassed that point, don't you?" Another one asks.

"*Smile sadly* If I have, this invasion could never accomplish anything. Ah, here they come." He points his right index finger towards the gate, where Saderan Army pushes into his city. "Let's see how many can **survive our attacks this time.**"

From the point of the Saderan

"Are you kidding me?" One of the generals, who's riding on a horse, asks in disbelief. When the first and second Legion passed through the gate, none of them ever returned to report what they have achieved. They have assumed that both of the legions are dead, given the fact their attacks on the first Gate were completely failures. Given how soldiers have described the first world looked like, they have assumed that they could have faced similar one. But no, facing them right now is only a group of young girls and a man standing in the middle. Even though they're indeed holding weapons, only a few of them couldn't face a whole legion. "They're just a bunch of girls, and one guy! Our Legions are not that weak to be defeated by such weaklings!"

One of the leaders is about to shout back in childish disapproval, when the interrogator just raises his hand up to stop her. He then turns back to the general who just said that. They are in the range of being able to hear each other. "That's quite a rude comment, coming from a general no less. Didn't you have some battle rules about not underestimating your opponents?" He then grabs his katana's sheath and plants the other end on the ground, with both of his hand now grabbing the handle. "If you didn't see your comrades return, then you should have assumed we have done something to them."

Seeing how over-confident the man is, the general snorts. "Plebeians, you think you are higher than us? We Imperial Army will always be the superior ones, compared to savages like you all!"

"Hey! How dare you call us savages!" Another leader shouts in disbelief, as she points her broadsword toward the general. "Comparing to our weapons, yours are just poorly made! And your outfits look terrible!"

That triggers nearly every Saderan soldier who hears that insult. Their grips on the weapons harden, as the general pulls out his own sword at points to the 'savages' and shouts: "You shut your mouth, you damn…"

"She does have a point." Feeling something touching his right leg, the general turns and greets the man from before examining his armor with the sheathed sword. "Look from afar, pretty, but when up close, your clothes have so many flaws that our newly-trained tailors would scream at yours own for being so stupid to make this design." During the monologue, the general is too surprised that the interrogator moved too close without them noticing, and he swings his sword down only for the man to raise the sheath of the weapon up and block it without any interruptions. Then, when the monologue is done, the man swats the sword of the general away, and with quick movements, lightly jumps up and swings the sheath to the general's chest, sending him off the horse's back and crashing into his soldiers. And because of the sudden movement, the horse runs away in fear. "And don't make me talk about that pathetic sword of yours, not even able to cut into my sheath."

Instantly alarmed, the Centurions start ordering their soldiers to quickly move into formation. The man before them just stands there with his sword down, looks at the army with bored look. The general manages to stand back up with his soldiers' help, and he glares at the man in anger and fear. But, clearing the later emotion away from his mind, he orders his soldiers: "Do not fear him! They're just weaklings! They just caught me by surprise, nothing more! Forward and kill them all!"

"Oh really?" The man hears it and smirks to himself. Then he turns back to the leaders of the nations and gives out a thumb up…

* * *

The prison, Colt's cell

It has begun, the slaughter.

With the thumb up, the leaders of the nations start channeling their spells in one go, and in a few seconds, their attacks start: A giant sword appears from the sky and strikes down to the midst of the army, killing about thirty men and knocking the others away. One horizontal slash wave coming from one leader narrowly misses the interrogator to the left, cuts through the shields of the soldiers and destroys, not kills, all the soldiers and monsters in the way, and when it touches the ground it explodes again and kills another good amount of Saderan. A massive Earth spear thrusts through another part of the army and earns more kills. Who's unfortunately enough would get slammed into an iceberg raising from the ground after being thrust by the spear. With the interrogator himself, he slightly draws his sword out and disappears in a blink of an eye, then reappears in his previous location with the sword fully out. Then he slams his sword back to the sheath, and immediately sword cuts appear in the air and slashes hundreds of Saderan soldiers into mince.

And that's just the beginning. With the first attacks done, the leaders start shining up, and in a few seconds, they have turned into their divine forms and charge at the soldiers with high speed. On the other hand, the interrogator snaps his right fingers once, and on the sky, squads of divine armors appear and descend down, assisting the leaders in fighting his comrades. None of them stands a chance against them, even the monsters like Orcs with high strength and resistance can't withstand up to third hit. But this time, the interrogator does nothing but watch the fight going… only to appear right in front of anyone who's trying to sneak away and decapitate them with no remorse and then return to the watch with no problems.

Upon watching the decapitations, Colt unconsciously touches his neck. It's no joke, the interrogator has done the same thing to him when he tried to fight him, but… for some reasons, the blade went through his neck leaving no marks on it. When both stopped because of the strange development, the interrogator sighed… in relief, then knocked him unconscious… "How I survived that is beyond my understanding…"

"Not just you, sir." The knight knows what the Count is talking about. "That divine armor thrust me with its lance, but other than destroying my armor, my body wasn't harmed at all."

"You could call that as fate." The two turn their heads outside and see a guard standing there. Unlike the prison cells they saw in their world, this one's door is replaced by a thunder spell that will activate if a prisoner tries to run or misbehaves. "None of the leaders like killing sentient beings, so they created a method so that no one would be killed senselessly under their protection."

The soldier asks in disbelief: "Then why were our comrades killed?"

The guard doesn't immediately answer. When the screams of the dying soldiers weaken, he says: "You have seen for yourself, **the five leaders of the nations**. The fifth one is he most unique one, as he's not the same as the others, and yet he can wield their powers with no problems. And he's only one **who wields the power of deciding one to be deserved to live or not.**"

That sends shiver down the listeners' core, as Colt says: "So he saw us as…"

"However, it seems to be something he couldn't control by himself." The guard interrupts. "But he could rely on it to know if his decisions are right or wrong. Most of the time, it's correct."

"I see…" Colt says to himself, then realizes one crucial thing: "You just gave out…"

The guard laughs, interrupting him again. "That doesn't change the fact he could **alter reality to a certain point**. Us human won't stand a chance against him." Then he changes the subject: "It's free time now, so you can go anywhere in here. Don't cause yourself any troubles." Then the guard walks away and joins the others.

The Count and the knight sit there silently, then diverts their eyes back to the screen. The killing's still going, and the army's not pushing any further. Then the knight asks: "How many will join us after this?"

"With this process? I hope it's as many as possible."

* * *

A few days later

Location: Fifth nation, Outdoor meeting

"Citizens, what you saw and heard are the truth." The fifth nation's leader starts speaking, after he motions the people to be quiet. "The ones who attacked us are from different world than we have known so far. The portal, called Gate by themselves, opened occasionally before, and this time, two have opened: one that connects to **one of the Earth,** and the other connects to us. These people, they came through the Gate, conquered any nations they faced, and turned them into their properties." Murmurs start rising up. "They have managed to kill a lot of people on Earth, and possibly kidnap some as well. They planned to do the same to us…" That causes the noise to stay down instead of raising up, because: "If this Gate didn't open in my nation, but in the other ones. And fortunately, it happened, so other than our buildings being thrashed, **no casualties of people are done**." That makes many people cheer for the good result. "Of course, that can't say for the invaders. And because they attacked, we have to respond. *Pause* I have made a deal with one of the captured, that we will head to their Empire and bring the justice to them." And with that, people shout in agreement and they're eager to make those Empire guys a good punishment.

"But…" That makes the audience turn silence again. "We're NOT going to punish ALL of them." After a pause for the people to swallow it, the 'interrogator' continues: "You all know well enough about this. We were at wars against each other before, we all understand well the desires of these people. For that, we can't blame all of them for the attacks. To be honest, we can't blame them for anything at all. They were just like us before: arrogant, prideful, believing that they're the best. And they have hold that thought for a long time, considering none of their past enemies have defeated them. But, this time they face Earth and us. They will learn that, violence will never be the only way to become more powerful. And, they're not the best at all, since there will be people who are greater than them." Another pause. "I have discussed with your leaders before, and I will say our final decision: We WILL go through that Gate, we WILL make contacts with Earth, but we WILL NOT wage war unnecessarily. We come, only to offer a peaceful treat between worlds, **like we have done before.** This way, there's no need for bloodstreams to be flowed, no need for heads to roll, and…"

"Oh come on! Stop the drama already!" That one sudden outburst from a leader causes the 'interrogator' to drop his serious face and turn to the girl. "Jeez, even when you threatened to destroy a world before, you weren't this serious."

"**N**…**N**… DO YOU HAVE TO SAY THAT? I'M TRYING TO BE COOL HERE!" To nobody's surprise, the fifth leader outbursts back in childish manner, causing the audience to giggle at the change of mood. At least they know that their leaders are still the same.

"Hey, **this is our fic, right?** Happy-go-lucky is in our job description!" That leader just raises her fingers up to make a 'V' signal.

"… Technically, it's not." Defeated at that logic, the 'interrogator' sighs. "Damn it, all the mood building up is for nothing now."

Another leader giggles in her hand. "You know we can rely on you for those kinds of events, right? That's why we aren't in the same problems as yours."

The only male of the group hugs his face with his palms while grunting in despair. "I hate you girls so much…"

"To be honest, sir." One of the reporters comments. "That's why you like them, right?"

"… I want to kick you in the face now, but that would just dig my hole deeper." That causes the atmosphere to completely break and the audience laugh out loud for that. Deciding to end this, the fifth leader stands straight up and concludes: "I think that's all I need to say for now. From tomorrow, appointed battalions will go pass the Gate and eliminate the surrounding threats and then make a base there. From that, we will try to communicate with the natives. Depending on their reactions, we will make a corresponding plan."

As people are cheering up, the fourth leader says to the fifth: "I think it's time for you to show them **who we are.**"

The fifth chuckles. "Well, it's time to end anyway." Then he raises his right knuckle up and shouts: "**GLORY TO THE CPUS!**"

And with that, the invaded worlds prepare for the upcoming events that would change their ways of living forever.

* * *

**Chapter 1 end!**

**Yep, you read it for yourself. This time there will be two Gates: one connecting to the 'original' Earth, and the second one... the last speech already gave that out.**

**When I write 'worlds', I mean more than just the ones mentioned in this chapter. Not only three worlds will interact with each other, but the others from different universe as well. Prepare for a massive collision of characters into Falmart.**

**And yes, the fifth nation leader is my OC, one of the OP ones.**

**By the way, the 'divine armors' are Alto Angelo and Bianco Angelo from DMC4. Really like their designs.**

**That's it, for now. Hope you enjoy this story, and see you in the next chapters!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Updating the second chapter before I update the rest of my stories. It will be a long way to go.**

**And if you haven't noticed, the bold words are kind-of spoilers, or crucial information in the story.**

**With that, enjoy chapter 2!**

* * *

*Cough* *Cough* He opens his eyes to see a shadow with a blue background with his blurred vision. Rubbing his eyes to get the better view, he could see the thing being a column of smoke rising up under the blue sky. Looking at his hand, its skin has been burnt in a small part. And with that, he remembers what happened.

"The Fire Dragon…" A rare type flying around here. Must be its season or something… Though the damage… "Tuka!" He then remembers the one person he managed to get into safety. Slowly sitting up, he looks at his clothes to see them being torn and burnt at some points. But, that doesn't matter at that point. Putting his hands on the ground, he tries to push himself up, only to fall forward immediately. Grunting in pain, he lets his body lay there for a moment before his joints start to feel again. Then, with one good push, he stands up and balances himself. Seconds pass, and he slowly walks to the well, while examining the area around him. He grimaces at the scene. "They sure live up with their names." He mutters to himself, as he recalls what those creatures are capable of. One single creature of the species has burnt down the forest where his village was used to be, leaving death and destruction behind its breath of fire. **But, compared to what that mad man was about to do, this is nothing.**

Reaching the well, he looks down and tries to find his daughter, but, the only thing he sees is the water in the deep place. "Tuka?" Asking into the well, he really wants to hear the response. A few seconds pass… he calls the name again, but non one answers. "No…" He wants to jump in, to try and find the girl. However, before he does so, he notices the area around the well having water spreading out. Normally it's nothing worth to notice, however, the Fire of the Dragon was enough to vaporize any exposed water. Then, nearby it, a trail of something rolling out to the direction out of the village. Even though the trail's bigger than he could imagine, he could guess what it could be from. "A carriage…" He mutters to himself. Someone must have been nearby and seen the fire. Then, the water must be when they found Tuka and took her off the well. He smiled to himself. "At least she is safe…" Exhaustion starts invading his mind, and he drops to the ground, unconscious.

* * *

Hours later

He feels something wet covering his forehead when his mind starts to work again. Grunting a bit, he starts opening his eyes again…

"He's waking up." Someone walks to him with quiet steps, but he could define the voice being of a woman. Then, the person comes into view, and he could see what the woman… no, the girl looks like. An Elf girl, around his daughter's years of living, with features that makes him sense a striking familiar feeling towards his daughter. And her… well-developed body… "How are you feeling, mister?" The girl asks him with worry, and with that, he knows the girl is not his daughter.

"I… am… am I?" He grunts when the memories return. With that in his mind, he cannot convince himself that he's okay after that event.

"Do you remember your name?" One more comes into view, and this time she's a human girl with long pink hair and matching eyes. She's carrying a small note in her hand with a writer with the other.

He sits up with the help of the elf girl, and he answers: "Yes. My name is **Hodor Marceau**. Are you the one who found my daughter?"

The human girl shakes her head. "Sorry sir, but you're the only one alive we have found. But there was a group before us who might have found your daughter, but we don't know where that group has headed to."

"I… see." At least now he knows she's safe. Then, he asks: "Where are we?"

The elf girl answers: "We're at Rectus Hill… speaking of which, we haven't introduced ourselves. My name is **Tiffania Westwood**, and this is Compa."

"Nice to meet you!" The girl bows slightly. He nods back in return. "I would like to talk more, but we have a few troubles at the moment. If you need something, please ask Tiffa here. Bye bye!" And with that, the girl walks out of…wherever they are.

Now that he takes a good look around, he's sitting on a white bed, with his clothes replaced by a white outfit. There are a few more beds around, so he's assuming this place's for treating wounded or so. But, there are many items that he can't recognize, one of them is that light which looks like it's made of light magic. And the roof is just a big cloth of kind.

He then asks Tiffa: "Tiffa… isn't it?" She nods. "I don't remember there's a village of elves in Rectus Hill, not with human around…"

"Oh, you don't know? There's a portal opened and connected the hill with my friend's world." That makes him widen his eyes in shock. A gate has opened in this place?

"I thought the gate only opened in Alnus Hill?"

"There is one there as well, according to the captured."

'Captured, huh?' Definitely the Empire has taken the chance to conquer again. Served them right. "So you're trying to return the favor…"

"Well, our friends just want the ones who are responsible to take their responsibilities. They also want to help the people here, after hearing what the Empire has done to them."

He then steps out of the bed, which makes the girl step back a bit. "Thank you for helping me. But I need to find my daughter now. I don't know if she's in danger or not."

"And I can assure you that she's in good hands." A man walks into the room this time. "Your dead friends have told me who saved her."

That last sentence makes him raise his eyebrows. "Dead friends?"

"Let's just say **I can speak to the dead.** Anyway, the name's **Kuro**, and I need to talk with you about something."

He slowly nods. He has already prepared some spells, in case if things go wrong. But those spells are stopped as he hears the man speaking to Tiffa in a language **he hasn't used for a long time.** The girl nods and walks out of the place, leaving the two behind.

"You recognized it, didn't you?" Kuro asks Hodor in seriousness. "The language of your past?"

The elf nearly chokes in his own breath. There's no way it is happening. "You two… you two are from **Halkeginia?**"

The man shakes his head. "Only Tiffa. But, she's from a different Halkeginia than yours."

"Different Halkeginia?"

Kuro gestures Hodor to sit on the bed, while he takes a chair for himself. "You know about Gate being opened in different worlds, right? Your arrival seemed to be a little different, considering you were pulled from your world during a difficult time. We have checked your bio to check where your world was, and it's different than the one we have known." Letting a little moment for Hodor to take the news, Kuro continues: "Now, I know you're eager to find your daughter, but can you wait a bit? We're heading to Italica with its count in a few days. During that, we recommend you to recover here. You can go around and talk to our natives to know more about us."

"I… will consider that." He has no choices for now.

"Good. Maybe we should head out now." Kuro points his thumb to the exit. "The atmosphere here is not the best place to stay for too long."

…

"So, what do you think?" Tiffa asks in wonder. After the duo has left the 'field hospital' as Kuro called it, the man has asked Tiffa to give him a tour around the place. And needless to say, he's impressive. Despite being made in such a few days, the place has more to give than any fancy places of Empire could give out. Not like he saw many in the past. The tour ends with the moon rising up, and the two elves are standing on the roof of the place the younger elf's temporarily staying.

"Wonderful. Even when in my old world, I would have never thought I could see sights like this."

Tiffa giggles at his statement. "Then maybe some days you can ask Kuro to have a tour in his world. You will see more than here."

"I will keep it in my mind, thanks." Silence. "This Kuro… being in the same level as the Deities in Falmart… I would hardly believe that if I didn't see those images of him from the people here."

"He does act out of his position a lot, but that's why he's likeable. He's like a father to us all."

"People wouldn't think of it if they first met him. Also, your Halkeginia… Brimir is no longer affected the world?"

"Not exactly, but what he thought was wrong was brought out of light. It's just his jealous about us that he told about eradicating us. We all have evidences for it."

"Hearing that, even in different world, would make me be satisfied." … "You're not coming with us?"

"Kuro doesn't like a large group to go. But… one of our natives doesn't want to leave him be."

"I see." He then looks at the moon of Falmart. "I think it's late enough. Thank Kuro for me for saving me back then."

"Don't worry. It's his duty, after all."

* * *

Days later

Location: Italica

"How much longer do we have to wait for Fourth Combat Unit, Itami?"

"In a few minutes! Keep firing, and watch where you're shooting!"

After shouting the order, First Lieutenant Yoji Itami aims his rifle right at a bandit's head and pulls the trigger, blowing the man's head into pieces. He and Daisuke Tozu are assisting Shino Kuribayashi and Rory in dealing with the strayed bandits, while the later duo are enjoying their kills with their bayonet and axe. The rest of his team are stationing around the East Gate and trying to hold the bandits back until their heavy reinforcement comes. So far, the bandits' focus are on the melee-ing duo, completely ignoring the deadly leads coming to them from all sides.

And then, the missiles coming from Fourth Combat Unit enter the battlefield and hit the outside wall of East Gate, killing the bandits who are trying to climb inside of the place. With the Fire Fighters momentarily diverting their flying course, the helicopters hover up on the bandits' groups and the soldiers start shooting down, killing the enemies in the process. Snapping out of her shock to see the bandits starting to run away in fear, Pina has ordered the rest of the Italica Defenders to go forward and push the bandits away. In the princess' mind, she was glad that Italica was safe…

Not for long.

One of the Cobra has entered the scene and points the helicopter's gatling gun towards the wall. The pilot gives Itami the last warning before he pulls the trigger. However, before he could even do so, a large energy orb falls from the sky and hits the area just next to where he's planning to shoot, explodes into white light, causing him to cover his eyes with his left arm. Then, the light dies down, and the pilot lowers his arm down, and sees the destruction that one hit just caused. Then, to his and his comrades' surprise, two enormous dragons have touched down the ground, their mouths are heating up for a combination attack towards the bandits…

"MOVE MOVE MOVE!" Itami and Daisuke immediately grab Shino and Rory and try to run away from the dragons' potential attacks, however, both duos are immediately grabbed by a smaller blue dragon and then flown right into the inner wall. Not out of their shocks yet, they then got dropped into the ground, and Itami turns back to identify the dragon… only for his knowledge of otaku to kick up. "Wait a second… you look like…"

Then its rider jumps out of the dragon's back, and his suspicion has been confirmed. The rider is a woman in her earlier 20s, with short blue hair and eyes with red under rim glasses. White-blue dress with a black cloak that has an emblem tied on the collar of the dress, she holds a staff which signifies her as a mage. Her aura of calmness surrounds her, as she speaks the soldier: "You're quite lucky that he saw you up high, otherwise he could have blasted the orb into your place."

Snapping out of the daze, Rory points her pointy part of her axe towards the woman. "Hey, who are you to grab us like that?"

The mage's only answer is the thumb to the backside. And just in time for white light and fire blasting down from the outside of the gate to the running away bandits, completely reducing them into nothing. "If I didn't, you will feel that heat, and I'm sure the others are not going to be pleased with that."

Itami's comrades immediately rush to where the group is and point their guns towards the dragon and the mage. The dragon hisses, but the mage puts her hand on its neck and shakes her head, causing the dragon to whimper down. Itami shouts to his comrades: "Put the guns down! She's not our enemy!"

"How the hell are you so sure like that?" Shino stands up as well and puts her finger on the trigger of the gun.

"Just… I know her… well, enough, I guess?" That answer from Itami makes everyone sweatdrop in their minds.

"**From an anime, am I right?**" The mage asks back, causing the Itami to nod in surprise. "Don't worry, he told me about that, and I'm not surprised." She then turns back to see the attack has ceased. "Your comrades are waiting, and there are people who need to see you." The mage then jumps on the dragon's back, and the dragon flies up and heads outside.

"Itami…" Takeo Kurata asks his leader in surprise: "You said you knew her? From an anime?"

"Yes… at least, I think so. But this girl is older than the anime… so I'm not sure yet. But that dragon looks exactly the same in the anime."

"What looks exactly what?" Lelei and Tuka appear in the scene, as the former asks the leader of Third Recon.

"Eh… nothing for now. Let's go out and check on the casualties."

Pina, her soldiers and the defenders of Italica are marveled at the sight of the dragons. One of them is black with three red eyes staring down at them, its body is covered with miasma which withdraws into the body after the fight. The other is white in contrast with the first one, with its eyes looking at Fourth Combat Unit's helicopters, but it doesn't look like it's going to attack. Both of them easily cover up the entire East Side of the city, and Pina can't help but shivered at the thought of them attacking her and the people. Luckily, it's not the case since their aims were only at the runaway bandits. The marveling time is over, as Pina snaps out of her shock and orders people to start clearing up the battlefield, but herself is thinking about the scenario in front of her… and the after match.

"Dear Emroy, now this is brutal." Everyone immediately stops their work to turn to the direction of the voice, to see their assumed-dead count standing there with only a scar on his left eye. "This sure will take a lot to recover."

"COUNT FORMAL!" Everyone then bows down to their knees upon seeing him. In their wild dreams would they never think that he can return back to Italica, much less unharmed.

Even Pina is surprised about this, as she walks to the Count and asks: "Count Formal? Where have you been?"

Formal bows down slightly in apology: "Sorry Princess, and thank you for protecting my town. I was captured because of the enemies from the other world behind the gate. But the leaders there are generous enough for me to return here to check on my city. Later on we can get the prisoners back here in no time."

Third Recon, Lelei, Tuka and Rory have arrived at the scene and overheard the conversation. And along with them, Myui has come along, and bursts in tears when she sees her father. "FATHER?"

"Hey, my daughter! Come here!" And with no other words, the girl runs immediately to the Count for the hug. "I miss you so much, my dear girl."

The rest is smiling at the scene before them, even Shino is crying a little in private. Then, a hand places on Tuka's shoulder, making the elf to turn back and widen her eyes in surprise. "Hello my daughter, miss me?"

"Father?" With a nod of confirmation, Tuka hugs the man in question, tears start flowing out of her eyes in happiness. The man is wearing a smile, knowing that his fear is for nothing now.

Itami scratches his head in confusion, although he's also happy that: Italica's leader has returned, and the elf has found out another survivor which is her relative. Then, he hears the mage from before talking: "It seems our assumption is correct."

Lelei, being similar to the other mage, asks: "What do you mean?"

"Just like I said. When we took a map of Falmart, we found out that Italica is the nearest town from Alnus Hill. And since Colt Formal is from there, we decided to head directly there, so that Hodor could try to find his daughter as well. Two birds with one stone." Then she holds up two fingers in a 'V' signal, which is completely out of character combined with her emotionless face, and weird to Itami.

"I think we should stay in a better place for conversation, heh?" Count Formal calls everyone's attention to him. "Let's head to my place for some deals to make."

Itami then looks up to the dragons, whose sizes are way, WAY too big to be anywhere inside of the city. "Um… about them…" He points towards the dragons.

"Oh, right." The mage then looks up and orders. "Kuro, Chaos. Turn back. We're heading inside."

"Kuro/Chaos?" The Japanese people ask the former, and the others ask the later. Then, the two massive dragons burst in blue data into light orbs, then they reach the ground and form into two figures…

"KILLUA?" Both Itami and Kurata shout in surprise, before both of them rush to the boy and start looking over every corner of the boy, as they're asking if he's real.

"As entertaining as the scene you two are making here…" The other man suddenly teleports between the two soldiers and puts his hands on their shoulders, stopping them from 'harassing' the boy. "We're having a little problem here. And no, he's not the real Killua. I will explain later." Receiving a nod, Kuro retracts his hands. "Alright then. Let's go. You too, **Illococoo.**"

* * *

A moment later

After having signed the treaty between JSDF and the Empire, Pina sighs in silence and then asks Kuro: "Well then, mister Kuro… about the treaty between our world and yours…"

Instead of answering the question, Kuro gestures for Colt to answer, who follows the order: "His deal is kind of the same with the last part of the first, the third and the forth condition." The Count then leans forward a bit. "Still, that one thing you're going to do is… a bit unfair if you're doing it for free, you know?"

Kuro just shrugs. "I have no reasons to keep them anyway. And I want to remove that prison as soon as possible."

"What are you two talking about?" Pina and everyone's clearly in the confusion, as she asks the Count.

"There is a second reason he took me with him here: To make sure Italica has a leader again… so that he could return the prisoners here… with zero conditions adding up to it."

Everyone hearing that turns to the fifth leader with utter disbelief on their faces. There's no way someone would willingly do so with their sane minds. However, Kuro is not someone to be easily argued against. "The fact that, aside from some buildings being destroyed, you haven't managed to kill any of my people, and we have killed many of yours already. Returning the living ones back with nothing gained back is at least I can do to respect the dead ones."

Itami asks back in surprise: "How did that happen? You were attacked without knowledge, right?"

Kuro: "For that… forgive me, **Charlotte.**" He then pulls out a revolver, and immediately points it at the mage's head, and with no one being able to act fast enough to prevent the event, he pulls the trigger. Everyone is expecting that the girl's head will be blown off, however, the bullet is blocked by some kind of barrier."

Charlotte sighs. "There's no reason to apologize for that. You wouldn't willingly kill me anyway."

Kuro sighs back in relief and puts the gun back. Then he explains: "Let's just say we have back-up plans if attacks like before happened."

Rory is the most surprised one, considering she has never thought someone could make a method that prevents death for everyone. "So it works for everyone?"

Kuro: "Depends. Have to register them first. Anyway, that's it… or at least, I thought so before I came here." He closes his left eye, and when he opens it… a symbol appears in his left eye and spins around like crazy. "Might I ask if you could get me some… **specific maids of yours?**"

The room drops temperature a bit, even the Apostle of Emroy gets even unnerving at the coldness in the voice of the fifth leader. That affects the Count as well, and he asks out of fear: "D… So you want to buy some…"

The symbol suddenly disappears, and Kuro turns to his normal mode. "Sorry about that. It's just that… some of your maids are… **were my friends.** I just want to see them, that's all."

The Count quirks an eyebrow when he hears that. "Your friends? But you said that you never heard of our world before…"

"It seems that our waiting time is over, huh?" Two of the maids suddenly walk in the room, gaining their attentions. One of them is a cat maid, while the other is a human. The former then asks Kuro: "If what **she **told us is true, then you must have succeeded, right?"

"Well, it's…" Kuro temporarily stops to comprehend all the words. "She?"

"…K…Kuro…" Someone appears from behind cat maid's back. She's also wearing a maid outfit, however, her ways of moving are not of one. She has long black hair with black eyes, similar to…

Kuro instantly recognizes her. There's no reason for him to not knowing the person shaking before him. He takes a very, VERY deep breath… exhales… then asks: "May I ask… How did you get here?"

"The… invasion…" With teary eyes, the girl can barely talk with her emotions mixing right now.

With just two words, he immediately understands. Sighing again, Kuro walks to the girl, with the maids walking aside, and he hugs the girl, and with that the girl bursts out crying loudly, tears coming out like streams. "It's okay, it's okay. I'm here now. You're safe."

None of them says a word, as they feel something… heartbreaking in the scene. Except Charlotte, who understands what's going on, and she asks the cat maid: "How long has she been here?"

"Three weeks. It has been quite a hard time for her." She answers. "Luckily she mentioned his name, otherwise we wouldn't know who she is."

Charlotte nods. "I met her before." She then turns to Colt. "It seems our treaty has been altered a bit, count Formal. We would like…"

"To thank your clan for saving her." Kuro's words interrupt the mage's words. "I guess keeping you all alive is a good choice."

"Okay, hold on!" Literally everyone is too confused, and Itami voices it out: "What's going on here? I know it's emotional, but can somebody explain who that girl is?"

The human maid bluntly answers: "**She's from your Earth… and she's Kuro's younger sister.**"

* * *

**Chapter 2 end!**

**This chapter is for building up the tension of events afterwards. Also, this story is connected to my main timeline, but you don't have to read my previous stories to fully understand this one. Although, if you want to, then they are there for you.**

**With that, I will truly end this chapter. See you in the next ones!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3... not much to say, just enjoy your time here everyone!**

* * *

The maid's words freeze everyone in the room. No one makes a sound, except the captured girl who's still crying in Kuro's arms. Count Colt is surprised about the event. He DID know about the captured girl, and that she's from the first Gate, and considering she WAS on the verge of being sold to a person who he never trusted with, that's why he saved her. The cat maid and the human maid, at that time, weren't too closed to her. However, after just one night, the two have already stayed by her side, like, most of the time. The two also took the place to teach the girl everything about his place and himself. While it's strange, he decided to let the girls be, since that meant he didn't have to be so focused on the girl. AND now, he feels that he has made a greatest choice in his life.

Princess Pina, on the other hand, is a bit afraid. The display of that man, Kuro, proves that he has the power of God in him. And that girl… she is a civilian from other side of the Gates, and she is the person's younger sister… That could be a PERFECT excuse to launch an attack directly on the Capital. And judging by the last attacks, both him and that white-haired boy could eradicate everyone without any problems. She needs to find a way to…

"I'm not going to attack the Capital, Pina Co Lada." That snaps her out of the thought and looks at the person who just said that. "Even if I find her dead, I wouldn't just terrorize a place where innocent people are living." He then turns to the cat maid. "Did something bad happen to her?"

The maid shakes her head. "Nothing too major. Bruisers from being pulled left and right, but that leaves a few scars on her body. Her insides… I'm not very sure."

Kuro nods. Then, he turns to the Charlotte girl. "Can you stay here with **Kei** and tell them what they need to know?"

The mage nods. "Take your time with your sister. She needs you more than me."

"Thanks. **Chika, **please show me a room." The cat maid bows and then opens the door. He then says to the human one. "You can change back with your desire." And with that, the man leads his sister outside, following the cat maid.

Upon the door is closed, Charlotte turns to Itami and says: "I know you have questions. But please, ask one at a time. You first."

Itami is a little surprised, but then asks: "I want to ask the maid first. What do you mean by your words?"

The human maid answers: "Like I said. After the Empire has invaded the first Gate, they have grabbed a lot of people from your side and taken them as prisoners. Very few managed to escape, and even less managed to survive in that group. The girl was very lucky to find us… or, **someone has protected her till now**."

Charlotte: "And that someone is a person who's only known by us. Next."

Colt Formal asks the maid again: "Kuro just called you 'Kei'. I thought your name is **Mohmu?**"

"And you are right, master Formal." The maid bows respectfully to him. "I am Mohmu, a human maid whom you have bought me and my friend from a human trader. However, in my past life…" The maid stands straight up and closes her eyes, then a light erupts and embraces her, causing everyone to cover their eyes. And then, when the light is gone, people look again to see a different person standing in the maid's place. "I was **Kei Jinguji, the Oracle of Lastation, and the Goddess of said place's second-in-command.**"

Everyone is slack-jawed at the revelation, then Kurata points at the girl and shouts: "WAIT! You're that girl from Neptunia series, right?" A nod is the answer. "Wait… how did you even know..."

"It's because of Kuro." Kei answers what Takeo is planning to ask. "He's from your world, and he told us about our existence."

Charlotte then taps her glasses, and a small device flashes images in front of them all. "It might be better if we have some observations."

* * *

To Kuro, his sister and the cat maid

"This room is good enough." The cat maid has led the siblings to a guest room. Kuro gently leads his sister to the bed and tells her to lie down.

"Sis…"

"Call me Peace, Kuro." The sister interrupts. "It's easier for you to not repeat what you say."

Even with teary eyes, the girl still tries to smile up after her nearly breakdown, causing Kuro to chuckle. "Okay then, Peace. It will be a bit embarrassing to you, but I need to take off your clothes to see the wounds."

The girl's face flushes up a bit, but seeing that he's not joking around with his last part sentence, she nods and starts pulling out her clothes, which are then put aside by the maid. The Deity starts observing the girl's body and frowns when he sees the scars. "Jeez, and it must have been weeks. There's no mages in Italica?"

"Unfortunately, Kuro…" The maid answers. "The healing magic here isn't as popular as ours. Only Elves can do so, and they don't like living with human."

"Understandable." He then puts his right hand on the girl's stomach. "A bit tickle, Sis, but I have to heal you. Our ancestors would chop my head if I lead you back with these."

"I know you won't hurt me. Do it." Peace orders. Kuro nods and starts channeling magic in his hand and leading it spreading all over the girl's body. After a while, the girl giggles. "It tickles."

Kuro chuckles. "I told you." He then turns to the maid. "If you want, you can change back, **Chika Hakozaki**."

And that's what she does. "I'm a bit surprised that you can already find out who we are."

"It's just exclusion. We have found all CPUs and Mina, so…"

"VERT IS ALIVE?" If he hasn't been dead, his eardrums could have been pierced. "Where is she? I need to find her and…"

"Just calm down, Chika. Ouch." He comments about his state at the last word. "Anyway, she's in **Remnant**, and reincarnated as well. You won't recognize her in first look." Seeing Chika a bit down hearing that, Kuro assures: "Don't worry. If there's a chance we can get to Gamindustri soon, we can ask her to come to see you."

"It's not Halkeginia that's invaded?" Peace asks in surprise.

"No, it's Gamindustri. Luckily no one died thanks to Immortality System, but we do have some prisoners, and we have some 'businesses' with the Empire here."

Chika crosses her arms in doubt: "You said you won't attack the Capital."

"And I am not going to do. All I do is just walking straight into it and ordering the Emperor to 'explain why he ordered the invasions'."

That silences the room a bit. Then, Peace asks: "What's your relationship with Charlotte now? Seems like she's closer than the last time we met. Which I think it's a year ago?"

Kuro answers: "It has been thirteen years to us. And…" He then groans. "I'm feeling that I'm walking into a landmine when I saw her face."

Chika asks in confusion: "Whose face? IF or Compa?"

"No, **my daughter with Charlotte."**

That causes both of the females in the room to look at him in disbelief, as Peace asks: "You already married to Charlotte?"

Kuro frowns. "And whose idea is that, my dear sis, to tell her about Valentine?" That causes the girl to turn away in shame, knowing full well what she has done.

Chika re-directs the conversation: "Back again, why did you say that when you saw your third child's face?"

"**My third child is a perfect carbon copy of one of the famous yangire with power over time.**" Using his free hand to rubs his eyes, Kuro remembers the times when the girl demanded lots, and lots of attentions from him, like her mother. Luckily she doesn't develop that kind of personality yet, but he feared it will happen soon, right at the moment she could control her power.

Peace starts re-thinking about the animes she has seen… and understands who her brother is talking about. "Rotten luck much, brother?"

"Kind of. Alright, it's done now." All the scars are gone, and her internal is fixed…at least that's what he thinks in physical realm. "Let's dress you up, and then we meet the others again."

* * *

Back to the main room

'Several portals connecting to one place…' Rory thinks to herself. 'Not even Hardy could keep one Gate up for a long time. A human turned God... things are getting interesting.'

The water mage, Charlotte, has showed the people in the room what Kuro has gone through when he was thrust into his death, to the point he obtained his God power, or also known as CPU, and the fallen of the world he tried to protect once, then the time he got the second chance to fix it up. Then his summon by the mage herself and his work in fixing the relationships between nations of Halkeginia, and the war against the nightmare creatures in Remnant. Everything sounds surreal, if the evidences are not there for them to see.

The Japanese soldiers are the most surprised in this. Especially the two Otakus of the group. Both of them have read and watched all of those mentioned, and they could never think that one person from their world has lost his previous life to protect the others, ones that they have considered to be fictional. But now, hearing all of that, and with what the mage said, they now know that: what they thought as fictions, are worlds that they couldn't find by normal means.

Colt Formal has heard pieces of stories from the guards, but never known the full extension of it. If he has to compare that leader to a deity in his world, he could instantly pick Hardy due to how his power is related. However, the violence part of his would be comparable with Emroy as well. And yet, despite EVERYTHING, the person always picks peace as the first option. He has no rights to judge this person, heck, no one in this room has it. And… he's glad that Empire didn't anger a god that would just kill everyone for fun.

On the other hand, Pina's fear gets worse. If Empire intends to keep the 'invasion' going, then there would be a total lost to its side, and no more casualties from the Gates' worlds at all. This 'god' is kind enough not to go all out and kill everyone, but time could change one's mind, and it's only a matter of time before the man snaps like he did in his own past. And… one truth reveals that he was actually from the first world they invaded this time. That means the treaty between Earth and Empire can instantly apply to the second one with no problems. Which leads to another problem: That two worlds are going to assist each other in fighting this war. If it's the case, she must find a way to make peace with them as soon as possible.

Hodor is not surprised… not anymore. After hearing the changes in Halkeginia, he has no doubts that the man helping him is not simply someone who uses magic for fun. And seeing the feats, he understands why the person sounded very knowledgeable and wise. All the pains and the achievements he got, Kuro doesn't have to brag about it. It being there is enough to tell what kind of person he is.

Rory, after thinking about the CPU, starts gazing towards the white-haired boy, who lazily whistles behind the water mage. 'A Deity given a form to play around? Deities that don't need worshipping to exist? If that's the case, then they must have been very powerful, under that carefree expression of them.' The boy notices the gaze, and he looks at the Apostle, who immediately turns to avoid the eye contact. 'He's like Emroy in every single way. Except the carefree part.'

Lelei, instead of dwelling into the past events, tries to touch the pictures, but ends up having her hand go through them like air. "Interesting… is this magic, miss Charlotte?"

The mage denies: "It's not, just technology. Although we do have a lot of things using it and magic together. Immortality System is one of the very few."

Itami wonders: "If it's possible, then could Kuro give us some advices for the…"

"There will be some restrictions." The trio returns, as Kuro answers the question. "We will ABSOLUTELY NOT give my own Earth more deadly weapons to destroy itself. I hope you realize how bad it is if a stupid man gets their hands in one."

Of course he knows, from fictions to reality. "I just want to talk about these images. It could be a great help if we could do something like our fictions."

"If we could do some peaceful exchanges, then maybe." He then turns to Pina. "About me snapping at any points, don't worry. I have passed that point for a time…" Then a red warning sigh blares in the pictures, causing the ones directly around to cover their eyes in annoyance. "Sorry about that. Seems like one of the scouts found something." Kuro starts tapping on the floating pictures… and then a camera feed appears, making everyone to lean closer, and see that it shows a part of the road to Italica with people on horsebacks running towards the town. He then asks Pina: "Their armors are similar to yours. Do you recognize them?"

The camera zooms closer so the princess could identify some knights. "… Those are Rose-Order of Knights! Wait, this is happening now?"

"Yes, it is. If they come here, can you order them to stand down? We don't really want more bloodsheds in this town." Kuro asks the question with the obvious reason.

"Of course! I don't want to break the treaty…" The princess relaxes a bit after that.

"Yeah, I know." He then turns to Itami. "I suggest your team to stay in this town for the night. Facing them in the middle of road is not a good idea."

Itami explains his original plan: "Actually we have some exchanges to do here. But your suggestion is good enough, thanks."

"Then let me prepare a party for us all." All turn their heads at the Count. "After all, you have saved my town, and I want to express our thanks for it."

Kuro is a little bit against that: "I don't think it's a good idea. I'm sure with the fight…"

"It's just a little loss of money. Food is not the matter." The Count explains.

"But still…" Kuro then surrenders by raising both his hands up. "If you think it's okay, then I'm not saying anymore." Then he smacks his head with his hand. "Forgot about that… when do you think I can transfer the prisoners?"

"Why don't you just send them back to the Capital?" Pina joins the conversation. "If you really want to send them back, I could arrange some carriages to your place and get them."

"You're not really thinking of that, aren't you?" Rory asks with a little curiosity. "I mean, they are YOUR prisoners of war…"

"Why not?" Again, people are totally underestimating Kuro's super-forgiving attitude. "I mean, keeping them there does no one's good. But…" The tone completely changes like when he snaps. "I'm sure on one thing: Another attack, and they don't have a second chance to live through that again."

That one intense moment… gets broken by Charlotte smacking her staff on Kuro's head, stopping the glare of death. "Don't scare them." The response to her is a pouty glance with a head scratch.

'They're a weird couple.' Basically all of the people, except the ones who knows Kuro, thinks of that moment.

* * *

After the little 'exchange', the princess and the count have gone to the East Gate of Italica to wait for the Rose-Order. Then, Pina asks Colt: "What happened to you all after you passed the second Gate?"

"Total annihilation. We thought that we at least killed some people, but all of them were saved by that System and gotten teleported to nearby nations. Then he arrived with his divine armors and slaughtered everyone on sight. However, his own power has spared some of our lives."

She raises her eyebrows in suspicion: "I hope you're not lying…"

Colt raises his hand on his neck and rubs it. "Believe me, I thought I died there. But the feeling of his blade crossing my neck without leaving a clean cut… it still unnerves me till now. The soldier who got put in the same cell as me got thrust by a lance, and no wounds as well. The ones who got wounded also got healed up just before we're thrown into prison."

"And yet you didn't look like you just…"

"Their prisons work different than us. In fact, his nation's prison was built seconds after the first invasion."

Pina's face freezes when she hears that. "Seconds after the fight?"

"We didn't believe that either. But it's confirmed by the guards, because they were also surprised about the prison's sudden appearance. All other nations have at least one, but his nation is protected by himself in everything, so prison is not needed, until the point we came."

"…One person…"

"One HUMAN can't do such things. But a God can. And that's how their nations work." He then narrows his eyes and focuses afar. "Ah, the knights arrive."

The moment the knights see their leader, they immediately stop the horses and jump down, then bow respectfully. Bozes Co Palesti asks: "Princess! Are you hurt? We came here as fast as possible!"

Pina gestures for them to stand up, then answers: "We're fine. The enemies are pushed away. We got a little help."

The Count laughs. "I wouldn't call that little, princess. But yes, we got help."

The knights sigh in relief. Then Bozes asks: "Is this help still around? I would like to thank them…"

A loud crash catches their attentions, as the knights prepare their weapons to protect the princess and the Count. What they see surprises them all: a boy with white hair in a plain outfit, is blocking with only his arms crossing in front of him, against an axe to the face from the Apostle. He uses the left arm to push the axe to one side, and uses the other to push the Apostle back. Setting the axe back, Rory leaps forward and swings her axe from the right horizontally, only for the boy to duck and punch the axe off the girl's hands. With her weapon thrown away, she tries to go with a quick punch, but the boy easily dodges and then grabs her arm, then throws her into the air. He follows up and tries to kick her, but the girl spins around and grabs his leg and sends him back to the ground with a loud *Thud!*, making the dirt to fly up. Landing down next to her axe, she grabs her weapon and makes another leap and slams down to where the boy is, only for him to roll away in the last second. Kicking himself back to his feet, the boy takes a deep breath, before engaging again with a right strike.

Upon seeing the scene, the princess sighs, and the count laughs, catching the others' attentions. "Alright, I think no one would dare to interfere. Let's head inside for a nice talk."

The princess nods slowly and gestures everyone to follow her, but Bozes questions the situation: "My princess, they're trying to…"

"It's pointless to argue about dying when both of them are immortals." Pina interrupts. "I will explain on the way. Also position some of our men on watch."

* * *

Inside of the Formal Mansion, Maid's Quarter

"So you're going to leave to return to your world?" The head maid of the Formal Clan, Kaine, asks in worry.

Kei answers: "Not likely. This is our new life now, we can't just abandon it. Of course, we would like to return to see how much changes in Gamindustri."

Mamina, the former Warrior Bunny, comments: "But I'm very surprised. No wonder you seem to have more knowledge than us."

Chika: "That's for working with the most important people in the world. Peace, have you gathered your things?"

"Most of them. The rest I have given Charlotte to put it in her dimension pocket."

Kaine: "Still, what your brother has said before… it's a bit heartless…"

Peace explains: "He's still human at heart. But he accepts the fact that everything can happen, so even if I die, he HAS to deal with it."

Aurea asks in sadness: "Why do you speak about dying so casually?"

Peace: "To say we don't fear death is completely wrong. Quite the opposite. But, we know it's inevitable, so we embrace it."

"By the way, where's he? And the mage and… the dragon-girl?"

"Maybe with the JSDF. They might try to arrange something."

* * *

One of the guest rooms

"DUDE! HOW ARE YOU SO LUCKY?" Takeo is shaking Kuro with jealousy in his voice. Currently they're calling back to the base on Alnus Hill to talk about the current situation.

"It's not like that…"

"WHY NOT? YOU BASICALLY HAVE ALL THE GIRLS WITH YOU! EVEN THE KEMONOS AS WELL!"

"I told you it's not like that, Kurata. Help me here Itami."

"Sorry, but I'm holding myself back to not act like him." Itami is sitting from nearby, watching his comrade 'questioning' about the man's luck.

"I think you should stop harassing him now." Tetsuya Nishina tries to calm down the over-doing otaku. "We're still on the phone with the general now."

"Yeah, and he's basically pinching his nose bridge because of our exchange, Kurata." That causes the soldier to stop shaking him, which gives him a small moment to breathe.

"I can't still believe about the fact we got captured in another side of the Gate, AND a second Gate opened to a world where one of our own men is living there." The voice of the general is heard through the radio. "Mister Kuro, may I ask your full name?"

"First, Kuro is how I address myself now. Second, no. I have made a lot of enemies, and I wouldn't like that info to be leaked out." The tone turns serious for a moment before turning back to normal: "I will give out the details in a better situation."

"What 'better situation' will it be?" Akira Tomita puts down the headphone before asking.

"When I could censor my words." That earns him glares of suspicion. "Like I said. Anyway, if it's possible, Third Recon could be the ambassador for the connection between our worlds."

A moment of silence from other side of the radio… "We will consider that. But for now, welcome back to Earth." Then the call ends.

"Wow, so we can go to Big Brother's old world?" The Rhyme Dragon (in human form) squeaks in delight.

"Yeah. And it seems we're going to bring IF and Compa with us as well. I did promise my parents to show them…"

Itami interrupts: "Wait, you mean you have returned back to Earth before?"

"Only a day or two. Time-jump and such. I can't risk meeting them frequently."

Takeo: "That problematic?"

"Time paradoxes are extremely dangerous if not doing it right. I have met my own future self, who works in the past till the moment I met him..."

"DON'T LEAVE US OUT LIKE THAT!" Someone drops from the portal, which appears right above Kuro's head, and falls right on the man himself. Everyone in the room blinks, and then the person raises up for everyone to see who she is… "Dada! That's mean of you, not calling us for a trip to meet my great-grandparents!"

"I… am planning to… and why can't you stop dropping on me?" Kuro weakly talks back.

"Well, you're basically our fun material." Charlotte picks the girl up and drops her to a nearby chair, then gives her an orange, who just happily takes it and eats without hesitation. "But really Clem? You could just have called."

"Nah! This is more fun!" The thirteen-year-old girl just replies back without a care.

Upon helping the poor man standing up, Itami asks: "Mind introduce her to us?"

"Her? She's Clementine Tennouboshi, the daughter of the person you already know."

"Uhm… her color doesn't match…"

"She takes the color after my son, Schwarz, and Uzume's other self, Kurome."

Shino rubs her eyes in disbelief. "What kind of family am I facing right now?"

"Unusual type." Kuro and Charlotte answers instantly, causing Clem to giggle a bit.

Itami then asks: "But how are we going to bring you with…"

Kuro: "To be honest, tomorrow morning, I could just teleport all of you back to the base at Alnus Hill."

Charlotte: "But you just want to take scenario path?"

Kuro: "More likely to try and bring the princess here with us. A sudden power show-off is not going to end well."

Charlotte deadpans. "Like you haven't done that already. Charging in with your Dragon form with Chaos…"

Kuro counters: "Hey now, you DID show them my power, right? But they don't really know my true potential…"

"Then what's that potential?" Shino interrupts.

"You will see soon."

* * *

Nighttime

"You want to talk, princess?"

Pina has called one of the maids to call the God of the second world for some 'matters at hand'.

"It's about the treaty between Falmart and this… Gam-in-du-try. I do not believe that all other nations would let ONE nation taking all the credits in this. What's your game?"

"Ah, that…" Kuro walks to one of the bookshelves and starts reading the titles of the books in his mind. "I will make it clear for you: because NO ONE has been killed in my world, your invasion was basically a suicide event. The treaty is just an opportunity for us to improve our relationship with other worlds. My personal objectives, however, are to teach the Empire about humiliation, and show them that the people are not toys for them to use however they want. Also…" He picks up a random book and scans over the papers. "I want to give the people here genuine happy smiles, not the ones they're forced to wear everyday by the government."

"How dare you speak about…"

"That's personal experiences, Pina." Kuro interrupts what she's planning to say. "Mind you, there are two types of prisoners in my nation's prison right now. One, the people who want to fight till their deaths. Two, the people who want to make peace. If you're in my position, which side would you choose for the better of your Empire?" Letting that sink in the mind of the younger person, Kuro continues: "I have to pick the option that benefits both sides. I don't know all of them, but I can see the eyes of people hoping in desperate to meet their love ones one last time. As a human myself, I'm not taking that chance away." He then closes the book with one hand. "Your Empire is ruling people in fear. That's one tactic, but it won't last forever. In fact, many reigns have fallen because of their unchanging minds. To survive, one must adapt to the changes around them. Your Empire is refusing to do so, and sooner or later, it will fall. Like how Hardy is expecting the event to happen."

Upon hearing one of the Deities' names, the princess widens her eyes in shock. "Hardy? The Goddess of the Underworld?"

"The one and only, of this world." Pina then witnesses the shadow under Kuro's feet starts rising up and covering him. "But… she made a mistake…" The shadow leaves, revealing a monster in front of her. "She's not… only one in… universe… there are more…" The girl slowly backs away in fear, being cornered in the room with one capable of killing her without consequences. "My partner… already gave her warning… she will have… watch herself…" Then, with light covering him, the monster turns back into his human form. "Remember this conversation. And remember: Rudely waking up a sleeping lion will have you killed." With that, the Deity puts the book back to where it belongs, and simply walks out of the room with no further words.

The dangerous moment passes, and Pina falls on the floor, the only mean to stop her face from slamming on the ground are her hands. Sweats start pouring out of her body, her eyes nearly turn white after feeling the near-death experience. Her brain slowly processes what the man said to her… and it scares her. Seeing that form of him through these 'pictures', but feeling the aura… now she has EVERY reason to stop the war at ALL COSTS. Not even her life would stop it once it really starts. And like what Kuro told her: what happened before was just the Empire foolishly stepping into another world's Death's realm. It's up to her now to hold them back.

But of course, she will have to do this with only the Rose-Order in her command. What can she do, what can she do…

* * *

**Chapter 3 end!**

**Considering 'I' know what happened, Kuro wouldn't let the pointless killings happen. Yeah, letting those Empire lead themselves into Underworld is better, but I'm not letting them take the civilians with them.**

**Next chapter is going to be the events in Japan. And MAYBE the one after that will be in Gamindustri. Not so sure. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 is out. Now, for the review:**

**To Wacko12: I'm not very surprised that you're confused. To make it simpler: Hardy opened two gates, one to Earth, one to Gamindustri from Hyperdimension Neptunia. Your typical 'two instead of one gate have opened' fanfics. It's just that this story connects to my previous stories as well, so some details have been left out. But the more you read, the more details will be revealed.**

**To isolono: You know the drill, my man.**

**With that done, let's get into the main story!**

* * *

"Falmart... another continent like Halkeginia…"

Kuro speaks to himself, as he sits in his guest room, reading a book he managed to borrow from Colt. It is about six or so in the morning, and the sun has begun raising up. And he doesn't feel sleepy anymore, so he wakes up and reads one of the history books.

"Bigger, for sure… This 'Empire' has controlled most parts, huh? Sounds like Rome a bit, but worse… The current king is Molt Sol Augustus… okay, I HOPE he's not like the one we threw into prison, name being too similar… Prince Zorzal in the next line of the heritage…" Then his phone vibrates, and he checks it… "Prince stupid? *Checking the history book again* Okay, two princes, Zorzal and Diabo… Guess I have to see them before giving the right judgment. For now…"

He then notices sounds of footsteps behind the main door. Gently closing the book and putting it on the table, he looks at the bed one last time. Peace, Charlotte and Illococoo are all sleeping soundly, quite enjoying the others' presences. Lightly chuckles, Kuro stands up and walks to the door, then phases through it to see who just walked by, to see the familiar long green hair.

"Early bird, huh Chika? Or early cat?" The girl just casually turns back to the person calling her. "What's the occasion?"

"Just normal works as a maid. You're quite early for a person who doesn't like morning much."

"Being the leader of a nation could give much troubles. You already knew that. By the way, can I join?"

"Sure. But shouldn't you leave a note or so?"

"Charlotte can look through my eyes, so there's no need to leave one."

"… Well, let's go."

During the walk, the cat maid speaks: "I still can't believe you got a third wife… and potential girlfriends. What happened to the shy guy we knew before?"

"Hey, that's a bit mean, you know? That guy's still here. They just threw themselves at me, okay?"

"*Smirk* Threw themselves at you? You had to do something for them to do so."

"*Pout* I'm not like that, and you know it."

"Just having some fun. By the way, I felt his presence around us…"

"Ah, right…" Kuro pulls out his phone and shows the screen to the girl. "A little expected that you don't get much attentions, though."

The girl just 'HM!' in a bit annoyance. "Don't remind me. I do what I want. Anything else?"

"Suggestion for what I should give to my sister to protect her… or just outright let her be on the offense. Though my parents would disagree."

"Any parents, to be exact… here we are." The maid pushes the doors open, and the two sees a kitchen with the maids already running around preparing stuffs for the 'nobles and guests'. "What are you going to do?"

"Probably asking you to lend me a space for cooking. Not saying you're not good, but I know my sister better than you all. What's better way to rekindle our bond by a family cooking?"

* * *

An hour later

"Kyuu…" Illococoo wakes up to the smell of fresh food in the morning. Occasionally, when her Big Bro is with Big Sis, usually he would make breakfast for all of them. And true enough, he's sitting next to the table filled with food. That's enough to give her a boost to jump out of the bed, which makes the other girls shuffle under the blanket, and run towards the table. "Yay! Big Bro is the best!"

Not losing focus on the book, Kuro just chuckles. "Just a normal morning to me. But let's wait for the others to wake up before we enjoy, shall we?"

"Don't need to wait. We're awake." Charlotte sits on the bed, followed by Peace. "Illococoo would probably be our alarm clock already." That earns the princess a giggle from the dragon girl. "Let us prepare ourselves first. Not going to let yesterday affect our health."

After that, during the meal, Kuro shows the phone to Peace for her to read the review. "So sis, want something to deal with this?"

"Hm… I don't know to be honest. I mean, you would probably return me back to our parents. But there would be times we can visit you now… any suggestions other than that?"

Stabbing the bacon, Kuro answers: "Clueless as you are. But… maybe a part of my summoning power… not from Dark Souls, might you…"

"How about Yugioh?"

"… I don't remember you being into that stuffs?"

"Hey, I could still learn, okay?"

"HEY! We have to…" The voice of Shino can be heard from outside of the room, followed with the door being opened quite harshly. The soldier plans to say more before interrupting herself upon seeing the scene before her. "… So you are awake…"

"Hey, how about you join us?" Kuro invites the girl, and the soldiers behind her.

Itami politely declines: "Thanks for the offer, but we will have breakfast when we come back to our base. Are you ready in half an hour?"

Kuro answers: "Definitely. Gather your stuffs." Itami nods and gestures everyone to get out of the room. "Well, you heard the man. Let's finish and then we head to Alnus Hill."

Time skip

"So uh, we're going to teleport to the front of the gate, so don't shoot us, okay?"

"… Normally, I would ask if your sanity is still okay, but hearing about the other world… okay, the North Checkpoint is large enough. ETA?"

"One minute."

"Copy that. I will send the order to the checkpoint immediately. Out."

Itami puts down the radio and turns to Kuro, who's standing next to him. "We have the permission. You know the coordinate already, right?" A nod is his answer. "Though… why does the princess look a bit spooked this morning? And likely avoiding you?"

"Meh. Just a little warning to her last night. Don't worry much." That answer doesn't make him feel less curious though.

Colt then walks up and hand-shakes Kuro. "I hope we can do more business in the future with no conflicts."

"It's our desire to help people, no matter who they are and where they're from." The Count nods satisfied and steps back. Kuro then checks his watch. "Alright. Hope you are ready in half of minute."

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" A voice comes from the behind, and he doesn't even need to turn to see who just appears.

"I am not, IF, Compa. I just waited for Clem to teleport you here."

"You could have just told us, and I would just fix her up!" Hearing a little squirming from behind, Kuro could tell that Peace's being bear-hugged by the motherly nurse. "And why didn't tell us about…"

"For your information, I have no collections of this… 5 seconds. I will tell you later." With the time quickly passing by, Kuro snaps his fingers…

And everyone is already in the ground of the checkpoint at the north side of the Alnus Hill's base. Thanks to the warning, the soldiers stationed here don't point the weapons at them, but they're still surprised at magic being displayed.

"Kind of explained why all of us can understand each other." Kuro speaks out of thin air, causing a little confusion from people who don't know him well. "Anyway, let's head in. Princess Pina and Knight Bozes, you two follow me to see the general. Girls, you can follow the others to see the people here…"

"You don't need anything else?" Charlotte asks in wonder.

"Not now. You just enjoy your day here. Let's get started, shall we?"

* * *

Scene skip… Falmart and Gamindustri's group

"So you're not actually native of Falmart?" Lelei asks in surprise, as Hodor talks about his past when Charlotte brings the matter up.

"I am not, but Tuka was born here. I was on a mission to find the Void Mages when I was suddenly pulled out of my world. Needless to say I was shocked, but I had to get over it."

"So the stories you told me before was your adventures?"

"Somewhere along the lines. A few twists here and there, but most of them are real."

Rory then asks Charlotte: "How did you even find that out? He could be a totally different person."

"The fifth nation is, a lack of better word, a living being. And it's built solely by Kuro's power alone, and its power could reach through universe, thus being able to check one's identity even if the person has lost all memories and connections. With its own knowledge, it could work itself out without having to rely on Kuro himself. That's why it could 'sense' the danger of the Gate opened, and activate its evacuation protocol."

That gains Lelei's interest. "So Kuro could create lives?"

IF denies: "Create fake souls and bodies, yes. Create lives, no. None of the clones are 'alive' in the true senses, but they could live as ones. We can't explain it further by ourselves, so we just leave it be."

Compa then notices people's face, and she knows what they're planning to say. "And don't ask him, since he doesn't even know himself." That changes curiosity into confusion. "The clones are made automatically through Kuro's subconscious mind, so there are a few things he can't explain. After all, he's still human at heart."

Rory temporarily diverts her attention towards the children of Coda Village, who are playing with Clem and Illococoo. "Mind if I ask if… that girl is also a Goddess or not?"

IF: "Half and half. She also has the power of countering the Goddesses in her as well. Though, currently only she is the natural hybrid. Kuro wields the power of the Goddess, he's not a God himself."

Rory: "Sounds like the Apostles here… except being able to use two countering powers at the same time…"

Tuka then looks around one more, then asks: "Where's that boy? The white hair one?"

Charlotte: "Could be anywhere. Probably finding that Emroy of yours, Rory."

Lelei suddenly says: "He's finding that fire dragon. Death said that she found one, and Chaos immediately ran for it."

All of them turn to her and about to ask how she knows… and they see two of them: one is also looking at the same direction, and the target who's currently having a cup of pudding in her hand with a spoon being bit in her mouth. Charlotte sighs and throws an icicle right at the person's head, only for the person to disappear immediately before the projectile could hit. Knowing that everyone is confused, IF explains: "That's just Kuro screwing around. Or more like he casts an illusion, if that's easier for you to understand."

That does clear up something, but… "What's the pudding for?"

Now that causes the Gamindustrians to giggle, as Charlotte answers: "Don't worry. It's just our things. Hodor, even if you can't return to your old world, you and Tuka are still welcomed to Halkeginia."

The elves nods their heads, as the older thanks: "Our gratefulness. Anyway…" Hodor notices Peace being a bit quiet. "What's wrong, miss?"

"It's… about my friends. Kuro's partner said that she didn't find any of them, dead or alive, in Falmart, but she didn't say about my own world either. What if they're killed in the invasion?"

Compa pulls the girl into her arms and hugs her. "Don't worry Peace. I'm sure 'he' won't let that happen."

"But…"

IF: "I'm with her. There's no point to worry about it. All we can do now is to wait for it to come. But, we will definitely pay them a visit, one way or the other."

Back to Kuro's group

Kuro watches in amusement as Bozes and Pina are examining the 'finest' qualities of the furniture in the room. Can't be helped, that's just the massive space between Middle Age and the Modern Age in all things. After the examining being done, the two take a sip from their drinks being served by the people here. Then Pina asks Kuro: "Is this… how your world is like? I mean, the one you're currently living, behind the second gate?"

"Mind you all, this world doesn't have magic." That causes the two royals to widen their eyes in surprise. "We DO aware that magic might exist somehow, but there's no evidences solid enough. What you see here are built by the might of human only. No orcs, no elves, no fantasy creatures have anything in this."

"Im…possible. How?" Pina is not believing at all. Her father knows that magic can't bring the Empire to highest glory, so he mostly uses human subjects. However, hearing that from a native is like a cannon shot to her face.

"I will let you think of all possibilities. For now, we have a meeting to attend." Kuro stands and fixes his collar, just in time for General Hazama to walk in. "It's nice to see you face-to-face, General."

Bowing respectfully towards each other, Hazama greets back: "It's our pleasure as well. And to you as well, madam Pina and madam Bozes."

The two also bow back, but Pina is thinking: 'Jayesdeef is led by this plain-clothed man? But if the God is showing respect, then he must be very powerful…'

After the greeting's done, Pina, Bozes and Kuro sit on one side, facing the officers of JSDF. General Hazama then asks: "If what we're assuming is right, you want to talk about the agreement?"

"Actually… I want to talk about the number of prisoners being captured by your army." Pina answers. "Mister Kuro here has told us about the prisoners in his world, and we know that you could have some as well. So we want to make another agreement about the trading and ransom for the captured."

"I see… First thing is that, we don't actually have the actual number of the prisoners. We can request for it, but it will take time. For the ransoms, I can say this immediately that we no longer allow customs of ransom or slavery to exist anymore."

That makes the royals to sigh in relief. At least the prisoners are not in danger. Then Bozes asks: "You said you didn't know the number, but can you at least get some names of the prisoners?"

Pina turns to her knight to ask: "What's wrong?"

"My friend's husband is in this campaign as well. She wanted to know if he's still alive or not."

Hazama answers: "If that's what you want… maybe we can arrange another meeting with the higher-ranked officers. With that, you can have more details on this."

Pina bows, followed by Bozed. "Thank you very much."

Hazama nods, then turns to Kuro. "I have to say we are all surprised when we heard a second gate has been opened. And even more when there's a person from our world who's living there. What happened to you?"

Kuro: "It's a long story, but it has no connections to Falmart. I'm planning to do a Q&A on the internet, if the time allows us to do so."

"I see. But if you're from our world, you must have some sort of identification card, right?"

"I do, of course. But I can't show it, not now. It's for my family's sake. They know that as well, and that's why currently my sister is using an alias. When it's comfortable enough, I will show it."

"Very well. But, judging by your accent, you're not from Japan, right? Then why did you take that name?"

"Ah, that… *Chuckles* I just like your cultures, that's all."

Hazama lets out a smile on his face. "Thanks for it. If there's nothing else, then we can leave. I will try to arrange things so that your meeting will go smoothly."

* * *

Time skip to night…

"Ah, paperwork, done! The report for the diet takes too long!" Stretching his arms, Itami complains about the work he just did. Then he starts putting the reports in the drawer. "I think I will go to sleep now. The cafeteria is closed already…"

"Hey, it's not good if you go to bed with an empty stomach." The soldier turns to his left to see Kuro leaning on the doorframe, with a plate of cookies in his hand. "Have some cookies, it's better than having none."

"Ah, Kuro. Thanks." The plate's placed on the table, and Itami thanks the man before picking one cookie up and putting it in his mouth. "But why are you still up so late?"

"Just checking around before hitting the bed. By the way…" Kuro takes an empty seat. "I'm sure as an Otaku, you want to ask more about the current situation, right?"

"Yeah…" Finishing the piece of food in his mouth, Itami starts: "First, how's Gamindustri? What timeline are you in?"

"After Megadimension. Uzume and Kurome have separated into two individuals, and the latter is good now. "

"Halkeginia? If you're summoned by Tabitha, then who did Louise summon?"

"Still Saito. However, this one has been living one life on Earth with no interruptions, before reincarnated into another person named Adam in Gamindustri. Then he was summoned the same time with me."

"And Chaos is the Ancient Dragon that Louise was supposed to defeat, right? Then why is he so friendly with you?"

"Because of my interferences. I have made a contract with Death through the summoning spell, and Chaos is happened to be her brother. Let's just say that I offered him a better opportunity to enjoy life."

"So it's peaceful… how about Joseph and his familiar?"

"Killed by Deadpool."

Itami almost chokes, before asking back: "Deadpool? How?"

"Don't ask me. I made a little joke and he appeared."

"Damn, he could be everywhere huh? Back a bit to Gamindustri, why did you build the fifth nation?"

"It's like a stalemate between nations. Mine won't participate in Share competition, but more in providing better living conditions and protections to another nations. Of course, we won't spill out secrets of a nation to the others."

"So that's…" Then sounds of footsteps interrupt their conversation, as they turn to see a tired Lelei. "Oh, Lelei. You worked on the translating until now?"

The mage nods, then collapses on her knees. "Itami, Kuro, please take me to the camp…"

Kuro shakes his head and sighs in worry, then carries her up. Then he asks Itami: "Can we take her to your one? Taking her to the camp is a bit too far."

Itami has already stood up, and answers: "Yeah, follow me."

* * *

The next morning

"Crossing through the gate?" Hodor and Tuka ask in unison.

"Yeah, to show people from our world that there are other species in the other side of the gate." Shino explains the plan to the elves. "Don't know if our group could be larger, but right now there would be me, Tomita, Itami, you girls and Kuro's current group. Though I'm not sure if they're going to be with us all the times."

"Well, we have our own plans to do…" Kuro walks into the room. "But, there would be times we will join you."

"Where are you planning to go?" Lelei asks. She's already in the room with Tuka and Rory.

"Well… to show the girls their originals."

Shino raises her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah, and also to meet my parents. Do need to return my sister back to them as well."

Shino remembers: "Ah right, your sister couldn't really follow us everywhere…"

"Also the royal duo will go with us as well, for their own business."

"Come to think of it…" Rory asks: "You could teleport, right? Then why don't you do that with your sister already?"

"Teleporting in one universe, okay. Between universes, it's another story. Also, scenic road is better."

The Apostle leans back to her chair. "So when could we go?"

"Go take your things. Itami has already been waiting for us now. Better not make him stand under the sun for too long."

* * *

**Chapter 4 end!**

**Sorry about the AN last chapter, I forgot about this part of the GATE story. The next chapter will definitely about the diet and the assaults of the other nations' agents for sure. Hope you all enjoy this chapter, and see you in the next ones soon!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's chapter 5. And sorry isolono, but I'm not going to answer your review in this chapter. You will see why in the EN.**

**For now, enjoy the new chapter everyone!**

* * *

"Japan, the Land of Rising Sun. And yet the first time I meet her, she greets me with cool breeze? Not sure if I like it or not."

"Hey." Peace punches Kuro's arm and scowls. "It's winter. There's no saying that Japan always has sun."

"*Chuckle* I am just joking." He then turns to the Japanese. "Sorry if my joke mind offend you."

"Ah, there's no need." Itami waves it off. "It's not like you're insulting us." He then looks at the Gamindustrians and Falmartians marveling at the skyscrapers of the city. "I can understand Lelei and her group's surprise, but from your group?"

"To be fair, every Japan is different. This one doesn't have magic, and yet… well, you can think about it easily."

"Maybe. Hey, follow me to the sentry post. We need to do some check-ups, and you can help me filling in the names of your group."

"Yeah, lead the way."

* * *

"You're happy to return here, right?" Compa hugs Peace from behind, startling her a bit.

"Miss…"

"Don't call me Miss! Just call me Compa!" Compa starts nudging on Peace's back, causing the girl to squirm in discomfort.

IRL, my younger sister is almost as tall as me, and I'm taller than any of HDN characters. I did have to check to make sure I'm not making some scenes wrong.

"Please don't do that, Compa… But yes, I do. I thought I couldn't meet my parents again…"

"That would be understandable." IF breathes into her gloved hands to keep the heat in. "Kuro got that experience before, and we did too. It was really scary."

"… You meant when he was in Heavenly Host?"

"Yeah. But, he didn't show it on his face that time, so nobody really knew. Even the people from that place…" Compa then releases the younger sister, before asking: "Shouldn't you try to call your parents now?"

"Ah, right." The girl starts pulling out her phone, fixed and charged, and dials a number…

* * *

"Princess… this is…"

"I…I know… If this Japan could build those metal beasts and these skyscrapers…"

Pina and Bozes are shaking in their boots, thinking about how powerful this 'Japan' could be. They have seen what their Empire has achieved, and this… tops everything… What did the men of Imperial Army think when they took their first steps in this country? They were here just to want to bring their prisoners back, but… now they might have a new objective: to be the negotiators to end the war between the worlds.

"Surprised, isn't it?" Charlotte speaks up, making the two jump in surprise. "When I first heard about Gamindustri, my reactions were nearly the same. Societies with better living conditions and non-restricted ways of living, except for bad things of course. Even the highest people, the Goddesses, couldn't decide the people's life, but they live among the people and protect them from harm…"

"But then, what did they gain? I mean, your… sir Kuro seems to be very carefree about it…" Pina tries to gain more knowledge so she could use for her advantages later on.

"It's faith. People's faith will convert into their power, giving them strength to protect people. It's how Gamindustri works."

"… So it works both ways." The Empire doesn't really have that kind of cooperative between nations. Maybe that's why these worlds achieved much more than theirs. "Is it the same with Halkeginia?"

"It's not." Illococoo denies. "Before the human has Brimir to worship, but after Kuro exposed his natural, the number of followers decreased. Of course, Brimir did many things good, but the things he has done wrong are not very… appropriate."

"That's why we're trying to hunt the Void Mage." Hodor joins in the conversation. "But, I think we're not here for that, right? Let's put it behind, and enjoy what the foreign country could give us."

* * *

"First Lieutenant Itami?" A middle-aged man in a black suit, being escorted by a group of men wearing the same outfits, walks towards Kuro and Itami while they're returning to the group. "I am Komakado from Defense Intelligence Headquarters. I have been ordered to act as your guide and escort."

Observing the guy's expression, Itami could tell that the man's not telling the whole truth. "You're from P.S.I.A, right?"

The smile on the agent's face curls up more. "Oh, you notice?"

"That group of yours could tell much." Kuro comments in. "I mean, if you're from JSDF, even if you're a high-ranked officer, wearing black suits like that could draw attentions to you, and that would just defeat the purpose of you being here secretly. Unless you want to intimidate people so they would avoid you."

The man chuckles after hearing the explanation. "You could say something like that. Mister Kuro, isn't it? Or…" He then draws out a small notebook. "Sorry, your name is not translated in…"

"Shhhh…" Kuro puts his finger on his own lips and makes a small whistle sound. "I stopped using that name the moment I died. Yes, you can find my names and look at it, but please, even if I'm not around, address me as Kuro, and not that name."

The man says in curiosity: "So you don't want people to say your name out loud, just that?"

"Yes. It sounds strange, but it's for our best."

"So be it. Your record is quite… interesting. Nothing sort of ordinary in your first twenty one years of life, being a normal student. That would be nothing wrong, if suddenly one day you vanished without a trace. It's like you were vaporized out of thin air. Your parents and relatives tried to find you for months, then suddenly all searches halted by them, and they returned to their normal lives like nothing happened… They didn't say the reason why they stopped, but we might have a guess that you have contacted them…"

"Well that's true." Kuro admits. "I briefly got back here once in the past, so that my parents wouldn't be too worried."

"If that's the case, then it makes sense. About you, mister Itami…"

* * *

Closing the call, Peace turns to Compa and IF. "My friends are all safe. And my father is here in Japan as well, in Kyoto!"

"That's great news!" Compa cheers for the girl. "Then we should head there when Kuro's done here!"

Charlotte overhears the talk, and she pulls the dragon girl towards the group. "Kuro said that we don't actually have to follow the others. We can go to wherever we want."

IF tilts her head in confusion. "Wasn't this story supposed to be…"

"IMPOSSIBLE!" The group turns to see who just made that shout, to see Kuribayashi facing a nearby fence while grabbing tightly on it, her mouth shouting her disbelieves of the truth she heard about Itami. "HOW COULD THAT OTAKU BE A RANGER, AND IN SPECIAL FORCES AT THE SAME TIME? SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THIS WORLD!"

Leaving an amused Kuro, a tired Itami, and a laughing Komakado. After that, the third straights himself up and salutes: "You two are not ordinary men, being able to achieve just feats like that. I respect you, and I mean it."

Kuro and Itami salute back. Then Kuro says to Itami: "I won't join you now, but I will see you again in the testimony."

Itami nods and gives the other a handshake. "See you soon. And hope you have a nice trip."

* * *

Place: Guest house

"MY DAUGHTER!" Kuro's father, the moment he sees his daughter's face, immediately jumps out of his chair and gives her a tight bear hug, while crying in happiness. "You are saved!"

"I am, father." Peace tries to calm her dad down by proving that she's not changed. "Thanks to your son and his friends, I managed to get out of the harm ways."

"Yes, I know." Looking over her shoulder, he looks at his son's face, who's nowhere older than the last time they met. "Thank you, my son."

"Don't sweat it, father. Family is always my top priority." Kuro smiles to assure him. "By the way, you are here for how long?"

"Just a month." Wiping the tears out of his face, his father stops hugging Peace and stands straight up. "It's supposed to be in a week, but I contacted with our military to extend it for me to try to wait for any info for… your sister…"

Compa asks in worry: "What's wrong?"

He looks around a bit, then says: "Kuro told me about his situation. This moment is being written down, right?"

IF: "Oh you're also avoiding saying her name in…"

"No no no. Only now. So, my son… your wives are here, but where's your children?"

Kuro apologizes: "Weiss is currently in Ultradimension, while Schwarz is dealing with some problems in Heart Dimension. The last girl is with Charlotte's mother…"

His father quirks his eyebrow in curiosity: "Why don't you say her name?"

"It's… I haven't revealed who she is. Sorry dad."

"It's okay. At least you brought your granddaughter with you." Kuro's father then pats the girl's head, making her squeal in excitement. "So you're leaving now?"

"Well, not now. It's still a few hours until the meeting."

"Ah, I heard about it. Well, I do need to ask about when you and Charlotte confessed."

Both he and Charlotte blush a bit, the former being redder than the later. Then Charlotte answers: "It's… when we returned after we met you years ago."

And immediately IF grins at her husband. "Want to go into more details? We have time~~"

"NOPE!" Kuro says immediately and then pouts, causing the people surrounding to laugh at him.

After that laugh, Kuro's father asks: "That aside, I thought you know much of this… anime of yours. Then how come didn't you know about this Special Region?"

"Hm? Our people call it Special Region? Well, it can't be helped. Also… this one doesn't exist in our world, only he knows but he also didn't expect it, like before."

The father sighs. "Even though he's not his father, I would like to scold at him for being reckless."

Kuro: "Now now, father. He don't even know how his power works. Anyway, let's grab some sweets and turn on the TV."

* * *

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS ON THE INQUIRY BEING HELD TODAY! IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS, JSDF HAS GIVEN RESIDENCE TO LOCALS WHO HAS LOST THEIR HOME IN SPECIAL REGION, AND TODAY, SOME OF THEM ALONG WITH JSDF'S COMMANDING OFFICER HAVE BEEN INVITED TO GIVE TESTIMONY FOR THE FIRST TIME!

NOT ONLY THAT, THERE'S A REPORT SAYING THAT A SECOND GATE HAS BEEN OPENED AFTER GINZA INCIDENT HAPPENED, AND THERE WAS A SECOND WORLD BEING AFFECTED BY IT. ONE OF THE NATIVES THERE IS GOING TO HAVE A TALK IN THIS MEETING AS WELL! HOW IS THIS WORLD DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE IN SPECIAL REGION? WE WILL FIND OUT IN THIS MEETING!

AND… HERE THEY COME!

* * *

All eyes are focusing on the group of foreigners walking into the meeting with curious expression. They count six: the first one is the officer of JSDF, with his uniform of the military. The second one is a young girl with short silver hair and a long robe, reminding them of the robes they saw in the history of Europe. The next two is a couple of Elves, nearly matched with their imaginations in Earth, wearing the modern suits. The fifth one is in a black goth-Loli outfit, has a black veil covering her face, and in her hand is a large object wrapped up in canvas.

And then they notice it: The last member of that party, who looks younger than the officer in the front, looks normal without that lab coat. He looks… like them, nothing extraordinary out of him. Then, before the man sits down on his chair, he places a round device right at the stand where the witnesses will stand to answer. Everyone's curious about it, and discuss with each other about the strange device.

"Silence please, everyone." The Chairman starts. "We will now begin the testimonies from the witnesses concerning the Special Region, then we will talk a bit about the second world affected by the Gate with the native. Now, I yield to Diet member Kouhara Mizuki for the first round of questions."

"Thank you. Now…" Holding up the large board, the Councilwoman looks straight to the camera and starts her questions: "Witness Itami, I will go straight to the point. There were one hundred and fifty casualties, one fourth of the total number of refugees under JSDF's protection. How did they end up as victims of this so-called dragon?"

"Witness Itami Youji, please step forward." The Chairman calls out for the soldier.

The man stands up and walks forward. Checking the mic for a second, he answers: "Well… it's because the dragon was too strong."

… That makes the woman speechless like everyone now. Then, she manages to continue: "Are you saying that you're not strong enough? Nearly two hundred people have died under your watch, and yet you don't feel responsible for that?"

"Eh… Yes, I feel sorry for the lost lives. However, the lack of fire power was the problem. Our bullets were bouncing off its skin like peashooters. At that time we didn't have any heavy weapons, but even if we had it we were told to save them…"

During Itami's explanation, Kuro has already used his Vision Of The Past to check what happened, and needless to say he's not very happy. Not at JSDF, but rather the dead itself. Many lives, lost for nothing.

"Can the Ministry of Defense explain further? The Vice Minister of Defense, Watanabe Ryousou."

The man himself is trying his best to hold his laugh when he replaces Itami. "Yes, about what First Lieutenant Itami just said, we have analyzed samples from the Dragon. Its scales are about as hard as tungsten, around 9 on the Mohs scale. Their weight is just one-seventh of their equivalent volume in steel. Combining with its high-temperature flames that it breathes during the fight, we can confirm that it's a living flying battleship."

Hearing that makes Kouhara abandon her hopes of getting any straight answers from Itami. So she changes the target. "Well then, I would like to ask witness Lelei to step forward."

The Chairman calls out for her name, so the mage complies and walks forward to the stand. And at that moment, the device starts up…

"Miss Lelei, can you understand Japanese?" Kouhara asks, just to make sure her words could be clear to the witness…

"Yes, completely." And then the girl speaks, however, her voice actually comes from the device, making all of them to focus on it. The girl explains: "It's a translation device from other world. It will help us understanding others' language without having to change ours."

Now that causes everyone, including the ones watching through the video, focus on the device, and on the one who placed it on in the first place. The man's response is just shrug, however, his way of shrug is definitely from Earth, and gains even more attentions.

"Be quiet, please." The Chairman has to raise his voice to stop the commotion. "Miss Kouhara, please continue."

Snapping out of her shock, the woman speaks again: "Thank you. Currently you're living in the refugee camp, right? Are there restrictions while you are there?"

"If you mean by the lack of freedom, then I do not believe that humans are free from the moment they're born."

Seeing that she's taking her words a bit too far, Kouhara has to rephrase it: "Sorry. I mean, are there any lacks of necessaries for living?"

"We're provided with food, clothes, a place to live, enjoyment and leisure. Our needs are fulfilled."

"Then, may I ask if the JSDF was at fault on the death of the people of your old village?"

"…No."

"Very well. Thank you very much. Next, I would like to question a bit more about the Dragon first, so I would like to call for mister Hodor."

All cameras start focusing on the elder Elf, as he walks forward. The Councilwoman asks: "Would you mind telling us where you are from?"

Hodor bows lightly before answering: "My name is Hodor Ray Marceau, and the girl behind me is my daughter, Tuka Luna Marceau. We're from Rodo Forest Tribe. And yes, before you ask, we are elves."

Everyone nods at how civilized the elf is talking. Kouhara continues: "Thank you for your information. Now, about this Dragon. Is there any possible way that JSDF could defeat it with their current weapons?"

"Unfortunately, that's a no. In our world, the only beings that could be able to defeat, or even kill it, are the Apostles or the Gods themselves. We have asked to help confirming your analysis, and I will confirm it here: your personal guns won't work against it."

Everyone nods again, however, Kouhara notices a strange detail: "You just said 'personal guns'. So you know what a gun is? Your place has that?"

"No. Not in Falmart." Hodor denies. "However, any questions not related to the current matter, please ask later."

The woman, currently doesn't have more questions for him, agrees in her mind. "Thank you. So, I would like to call witness Rory."

The girl replaces Hodor, and everyone starts thinking that her outfit is for mourning, based on the design and the color. And it means Kouhara has to change the tactics to draw out a tragic.

"Could you tell me your name, please?" The Councilwoman speaks gently and kindly.

"Rory Mercury."

"How is your daily life in the refugee camp?"

"As a follower of Emroy, I lead a humble life according to my faith."

"And may I ask what it is like?"

"It's very simple. From the morning, I wake up and pray. I take lives, then I pray again. Night falls, and I sleep once more. The cycle repeats days after days. With my body of flesh, there's no other alternatives."

The 'taking lives' part makes everyone feels a little uneasy, and the woman asks: "What do you mean by 'taking lives'?"

"It can be compared to hunting for the purpose of eating, or sacrifices for my god, Emroy."

'Oh, just religious act on animals.' That puts ease among people.

Kouhara questions again: "Was it because of JSDF's actions that led to your family member's deaths?" Seeing that the girl is silent, Kouhara thinks she just hit a jackpot…

And then:

"ARE YOU AN IDIOT?" Combining both her own shout and the mic's amplification, everyone has to cover their ears to reduce the damage the words could cause to their brains.

After the ringing ends, Kouhara has to ask back: "Pardon me… what did you just say?"

"I asked if you are an idiot, young lady." Removing her veil, Rory starts speaking in pure Japanese, as the device stops working. "Such a stupid question. Is parroting the only thing you can do? Itami and his team accomplished something no one has ever done before. You stated that one fourth has died? Wrong. Three fourth were saved. If every senator is like you, then I feel pity for the soldiers of this country."

That causes the Chairman to try and interfere: "Witness, please take a serious tone…"

"Years after years, and yet human still doesn't learn from their own advices." Kuro suddenly speaks up, gaining everyone's attention as he stands up and walks next to Rory. "Like the old men said: 'You can't judge a book by its cover'. You're assuming that Rory here is younger than you. And *chuckles* you are all wrong, I can tell you that, even though she hasn't told me about it yet."

"Oh really?" "Even older than me at 87?" Murmurs start raising up, doubting about this situation.

Sending Kuro an annoyed glare, Rory says: "You don't have to interfere…"

"Well, just to make you don't turn this place into Italica again." Kuro grins, making the glare intensify.

Kouhara tries her best to not shout, as she slowly asks: "So, miss Rory, how old are you?"

"961 years old."

That drops silence to everyone, not just inside the room but the viewers, as someone asks: "Is she immortal?" Only Kuro just chuckles and returns to his seat, enjoying the baffled faces.

"Then… what about you, miss Tuka and mister Hodor?"

"I am 165 years old, while my father is 380."

'Eternal beauty.' That's what everyone is thinking about the elf duo.

Kouhara asks the last witness: "Then you…"

"I'm just 15." That saves everyone from troubling themselves. And with that, Lelei starts her explanation: "The Human on the other side has the average lifespan about 60 to 70 years, health permitting. And most of the population consists of human.

Hodor and Tuka are Elves, and a rare type among themselves. Their lifespans are even higher than the regular ones, and they could effectively be immortal.

Rory was human, but the moment she ascended to demigodhood, her physical age stopped. When she reaches her age of thousand years, she would cast aside her body and flesh and become a true god. So to her, concept of age didn't matter."

The Councilmen and women are speechless after this, as Kouhara wants to grab her head and scream in embarrassment. However, she holds herself back and concludes: "Then, I have no more questions…"

'Beaten by their own advices. Just the human I remember and swear to protect.'

"I think it's time for the next part." The Chairman changes the subject. "Minister of Defense, you are leading this session."

"Thank you." The General nods and replaces Kouhara, then calls out: "Mister Kuro, please step forward." The 'foreigner' complies and follows the order. "Normally, I would ask some questions regarding to your world immediately. However, in your case…" The General suddenly salutes, and to everyone's surprise, he says: "I would like to represent everyone and welcome you back to your old world."

Kuro salutes back: "Thank you, sir General. It's my gratefulness to be able to return back to where I was born."

Now that causes an uproar inside the room, and the people who are watching through the screens around the world. The General and Kuro just stand there, waiting for the uproar to stop as they're wearing a smile that they're clearly enjoying this confusion.

And the Chairman has to shout out again: "SILENCE, PLEASE!" When the voices die down, he questions: "Mister General, please explain."

The General answers: "I think it should be for later. For now, mister Kuro, care to tell us where you're living now?"

Kuro nods, and pulls out another device from his coat and puts it on the stand. Then, images flash up for everyone to see, these consists of floating islands, one with a high tower in the middle of a nation, one that looks like an advanced version of a steampunk era, one with colorful atmosphere with snow flying constantly, one with nature managed to beat even Amazon, and one in the middle of said world with all elements of the others combined. "I think for a certain community, the members have recognized this world. However, to the ones who don't, I will tell you: This place is Gamindustri, where the Goddesses live among the people and protect the people with all they have."

* * *

For a certain community's group chat…

"GAMINDUSTRI IS REAL!"

"ALL HAIL TO THE CPUS!"

"THAT GUY WENT THERE FIRST! SO JEALOUS OF HIM!"

"HEY, I HEARD THERE'S A PICTURE OF THE GROUP IN FRONT OF THE GATE A FEW HOURS AGO! SOMEONE GET IT!"

* * *

Back to the Diet

"That's interesting." The General comments. "How did you get there in the first place?"

"That's a sensitive info that I can't tell. Though, I could say this: I'm currently travelling through universe and helping whoever I can. So, if you visit my world, calling me first of course, you can meet up with people from there as well."

"We will consider. Also, in this point, I want to talk about forming a partnership between the two worlds. Can you ask the Goddesses to consider it?"

"That's why I am here. And everything that's related to that event comes to me…" A bright aura shines around the Deity's forcing everyone nearby to cover their eyes a bit so that they're not going to be blinded. It then dies down nearly instantly. "I can open another portal… and no, those Gates are not mine. I don't create one without a good reason."

"We doubt you would do so, if you don't even know the Special Region in first place." The General eases down everyone's fear. "By the way, how old you are?"

"Around Tuka's age, maybe. I have lost count after so many time-travelling trips."

More murmurs occur, and the General asks curiously: "Oh, you can do so? You have a machine or…"

"No." Kuro shakes his head. "That's one of the many few devices I didn't allow to build. Mine is pure magic."

"I see… is there any differences in… age-defining in your current world?"

"Lifespan is one and a half than Earth. Non-human would be longer."

"Technology?"

"Not gonna spoil it much. I successfully created a peaceful Skynet of sort."

"… I hope you know the risk."

"The fact it binds directly to me, then yes."

"Very well then. I think you have earned a good spotlight, how about we give the questions to the girls? And once again, welcome back."

"Thanks. Though, I am going to Kyoto now, my father is there with my new family. See ya." Raising his left hand up, Kuro snaps his fingers, and he disappears without a trace in front of everyone.

The Minister chuckles again when he sees people being stupefied and shocked at the scene. Then he remembers one thing: "Right, forgot to ask where he's from. Maybe PSIA got that already."

* * *

"… Since when did my son become that cocky?" The father quirks an eyebrow in confusion, never seen that kind of actions from his eldest child in the past.

"Don't worry, father. He didn't change at all." Charlotte assures him, already comfort enough to call him 'father'. "That's only when he needs to be serious. Otherwise, he's still the same as the one you know."

"So, do you like it?" Appearing behind the princess' chair, Kuro leans his head on top of her, relaxing himself with her softness. The girl just smiles and pats his head gently. (Note: weight reduced)

IF: "So you're not going to follow the group?"

Kuro: "Nah. Just going to enjoy this trip with you. Though, tomorrow we will meet them in the hot spring."

Kuro's father asks: "What are you all going to do now?"

Peace: "You are going to return tomorrow, right? I'm going back as well."

Kuro: "Then send my regards to our mom, okay?"

Peace: "Why don't you do it by yourself?"

"Later, for sure. But now, girls, we're going to IF's company. Surely they will be surprised to see their important Mascots in front of them, right?"

* * *

**Chapter 4 end!**

**Sorry you guys about the failed promise in previous chapter. I was planning to extend this chapter to the part in hot spring, however, due to the current situation I'm not (consist of tests and arrangements) I have to short it down to this.**

**To you, isolono, Kuro was enjoying his time in his world, so he couldn't answer you. Though, I will say this: Peace will come to Gamindustri and stay there one day, so your items could be used more frequently.**

**Also, no, I'm not going to show what happens when IF, Compa and Clem head to IF and Compile Heart company in Tokyo. They will recap it, but it won't be a full chapter of it. Remnant, though, it will be a different thing...**

**That's it, for now. See you in the next chapters!**


	6. Chapter 6

**For this chapter only, you guys can actually skip it, because it's not related to GATE. Though, you might want to read the EN for spoilers for a certain someone's fate. (Of course, it won't happen immediately in the next chapter, but you can make some guesses of what I'm about to do)**

**Now, a bit of reviews:**

**To VNThangDCD: Meta, huh? I think Deadpool already beat me to it.**

**To isolono: I will have a good use for them. Thanks.**

**Now, to the chapter 6 (or I would call this an extra chapter).**

* * *

"A special interview?" Kana Ueda asks in curiosity. She's currently hanging out with her friends in the supermarket, when one of the producers of IF Company calls her, saying that her present is needed.

"Yes. I think you have seen the Diet recently?"

"The Diet? I'm sorry, but I haven't."

"Really? Well then, just come. Miss Kanako Sakai is coming as well."

"I will be there soon." Hanging up the call, Kana apologizes to her friends: "Sorry girls, business call."

"Don't worry, we do have some fun. But who just called?"

"Producers from IF company. Saying they're making a livestream, and they need both me and Kanako for some reasons."

"… I think I found why." One of her friends shows her phone towards her, and she looks at it… to see a picture being taken in the Diet. "The person mentioned about their games during the Diet. Could be a PR or something for the company."

"Sounds about right to me. I'm heading out now, see you girls later."

* * *

"Oh hey Kanako! You just arrived?"

"Same to you, Kana. Have you heard about the Diet?"

"Not really. You know something?"

"Hyperdimension is real! It got affected by the Gate as well!"

"… Wait, you mean the game is real?"

"Apparently so! Let's head in and ask the producers!"

* * *

The two are then greeted by an abnormal amount of reporters gathering in the company. Not even when the new game is out, would them come to this place this many. Kana then asks one of the cameramen there: "Mister, do you know what's going on?"

The cameraman turns to her, and sees Kanako as well… and he shouts to the others: "HEY! Our main characters are here! Leave them a way to go in!"

The moment the reporters hear that, they immediately step aside, leaving the two dumbfounded. They then look at the cameraman again, as he says: "The girls should go in now. They're starting the stream soon, and it won't be succeeded without you."

"…Thank you." Not knowing what to do, the two just bow and thank him, then quickly walk inside, trying to avoid the eyes of the reporters.

"Now I really want to know what's going on. It's not like we're real mascots or so…"

"I'm also curious as well." Kanako agrees. "We might know soon…"

When they head inside, they are also greeted with a happy Mariko Honda, as she greets both of them: "Nice to see you here!"

Kana greets back. "To you as well. Do you know why the producers called us?"

"I didn't at first, but when I saw her, I could say I'm quite surprised as well."

"Who?" The duo asks in unison. Mariko then points towards a direction, the two follow… and see a scene they don't really believe being possible: A little girl with long brown hair being tied into two pigtails, wearing a green dress, is sitting on a chair peacefully while eating a cup of pudding. She looks very happy with what she's doing now.

"Um… I think I can see why… but why is she so small?" Remembering that face, Kanako asks in confusion. "Also, her color seems to be…wrong or so…"

"You're thinking of Uzume, aren't you two?" Receiving nods, Mariko giggles. "The little girl is not her, but rather her daughter."

"… Her what?" Kana asks in totally disbelief.

"Oh, and you're her Grandmother as well, Kana."

"…Ha?" Her mouth hangs out with another surprise. "I'm her what?"

"Just head to that room. They're livestreaming there." Mariko points her finger towards the room where most of the meetings are held. The duo thank the woman and start heading there soon.

"Hope the producers have the answer for this…"

* * *

"So currently your old world is gone?"

"Unfortunately, yes. However, we don't really mind it, since it would get rid of the monsters…"

"And you managed to get out of dangers and now you're living with other you?"

"A quick summary, but yes."

"Interesting… oh, here they are."

"Sorry we're late. What do you…" Kana stops immediately when she sees who are sitting next to the producers. "Uhm… do we miss something?"

"Oh not at all." The one having her voice answers. "We were just talking about where we were from."

"Come in, you two!" The one having Kanako's voice continues.

"Uhm… sure…" The two voice actresses can't comprehend what's going on, but decide to follow the words.

"Look up to the camera, everyone." One of the producers tell them. "Let's give everyone a good smile!" Everyone does so, and after multiple pictures, the producer continues: "Now I think that miss Kana and miss Kanako are a little confused. How about you two ask miss IF and Compa here to know about them?"

Kana is the first one to ask the first one coming up in her mind: "Are you two cosplayers? Because you're doing quite a good job."

"No, we're the real deal. You haven't watched the Diet?"

"Sorry, wasn't really interested in it."

"It's okay. Anyway, we're very real. Though we're not really supposed to get here, the second Gate allowed us to visit this world as well."

Kanako asks next: "A second Gate?'

Compa answers: "It connects Falmart, which you called the Special Region, and Gamindustri. But, we didn't expect the first gate connects to Earth… well, the Earth we know."

Kana blinks. "You know Earth? So… you know that…"

IF: "We're in a game? Yes, we knew. From your native years ago."

"Our native?" IF then pulls out her N-Gear, much to the voice actresses' surprise, and she opens the record in the Diet. "That person is from your world, as he got stumbled into our world because of… circumstances."

The producer voices out the two's feelings: "Yeah, we also found it be surprised when we heard him saying so. But, when he showed up with you two and the little girl…"

"Right, the little girl." Kana remembers. "Miss Mariko said that she's Uzume's daughter… is that true?"

IF smiles. "Yeah. Also Clem is my granddaughter as well."

"…So… Mariko was half serious when she said I'm her grandmother… How did that happen?"

Compa: "Well… Do you two remember Megadimension?"

Kanako: "I think what Kana wanted to ask is that: You have a son?"

IF pauses the video, and points to Kuro's left hand. "You see those rings?" Everyone focuses back and sees the rings. Then both IF and Compa show theirs. "I think you could guess why now."

"Oh…" Everyone nods in understanding…

Until Kana points it out: "Wait, does that mean he married both of you?"

"More like we're in a triangle relationship." Compa then leans on IF and rests her head on the Agent's shoulder passionately, causing the girl to slightly blush up. "We all love each other."

"WOW!" Now that causes everyone to shout in surprise, as the clicking of cameras constantly echo in the room. And that also makes the two voice actresses to blush up as well.

And Kanako manages to ask next: "Did… did everyone okay with that? I mean, from your world."

"Only RED was upset back then." IF chuckles when she remembers about the certain girl. "Though, she didn't give up in trying to snuggle up on us though."

The producer interrupts: "Maybe we should change subjects before it goes further. Youtube is a bit sensitive with these things."

Kana thinks: 'Thank you, producer.' She then asks: "About the little girl's father…"

IF: "He's currently with Uzume in Heart Dimension to deal with some works, so he won't be here. Neither his sister as well, who is Compa's daughter, mind you."

Kanako: "So… If your husband, Kuro isn't he, knew about you… then did he manage to… wait, what time did you come from?"

"After Conquest Ending."

Kanako flinches. "Sorry for bringing up the bad memories."

Compa reassures: "Don't worry. We have overcome it. Though, he arrived a bit late, so damage has been caused already… Let's change a bit. After that he and our children with Histoire have made a jump, and they arrived to the current Hyperdimension, when our other selves were trying to save the Goddesses in the Graveyard."

Kana: "And that's where you're living… So where are you living now?"

"The fifth nation, created by Kuro to keep the world safe from dangers. It doesn't interfere with the competition of Share though, but rather helping all sides about protection."

"Oh? No wonder the Graveyard looked different." Kanako realizes. "So he built the place right on top of the Graveyard?"

"Yep."

Kana: "Also… you didn't seem to be taken surprised by the Gate…"

IF: "It opened right at the fifth nation, where the protection is always at maximum, so nothing can really harm Gamindustri that fast."

Kanako: "Speaking of Kuro, shouldn't he be here with you?"

IF giggles. "Ah, that? He's doing his private livestream…"

* * *

"So yeah guys, RWBY volume 7 is coming soon. We have waited for quite a long time now…" MurderOfBirds, or Arnold Delgado, is streaming on his Twitch. "Once the new episode is out, I will immediately turn up the stream and…" He then gets a mail, and he reads it. "Hold on guys… what the?" The sender is asking him to enter this link to watch him, saying it's important. "Hm… Someone just gave me the link… let me check it guys…" Opening it with his web browser, he sees it the front page being darken a bit, then…

"Took you long enough, mister Arnold." A person, holding something for recording, is looking straight at him. "Hope I'm not interrupting something."

"Well, not really. I'm in the middle of streaming…"

"Then it's good. Because you will have a wonderful Twitch stream for you." The person grins. "Call me Kuro. I'm in a very familiar place to you. You might be able to recognize it."

The person then throws the recorder up, and it starts floating while spinning around to give Arnold a view of where Kuro is in… and Arnold could see a forest with the main theme being red. Also, because of what he just talked with his fans about…

"THIS… THIS IS FOREVER FALL!" He shouts in surprise and excitement. "Wait, you are in there, so that means…"

"Yes, mister Arnold." The camera floats down a bit. "I'm in Remnant. A real deal…"

"Woah…" The Youtuber is speechless. He and Rooster Teeth are very close after he knew about the show, even more after… and now, he's able to watch the world for himself… "Wait, can I call someone?"

"No need. I already sent the link to them." Kuro brought up his watch, and from there a screen floats up in the air, showing the casts of RWBY are watching as well.

Neath Oum waves at him. "Hey Arnold! Can you hear us?"

Arnold waves back. "Loud and clear, sir!" He then turns to Kuro. "You are in Remnant… you're from the Special Region?"

Kuro smirks. "How about you re-check the recent Diet in Japan?" He then starts walking. "While you're doing so, I better move, because I'm not planning to be Grimm's food."

"Wow, really?" Arnold couldn't help but laugh a bit at that. He then searches for the Diet and watches it… and shouts again: "YOU'RE FROM OUR WORLD?"

"Yep." Kuro answers, while jumping from branch to branch of trees. "Remnant is one of the worlds I have come across, aside from Gamindustri. And since I was able to return to my old world, I suppose I could show you what I have done for the world we like."

Arnold puts his head on his hand. "That sounds like fan fictions to me…"

"Well, I was inspired by it." Everyone then laughs at that. Then Kuro points forward him to show the signs of city of Vale. "Welcome to Vale."

"It looks more advanced than I remember…" One of the model designers asks in curiosity.

"Ozpin and Ironwood have fixed a lot after they have seen what happened in Volume 3. This is just one of many changes…"

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Arnold asks what everyone's thinking.

Kuro: "They are two of the characters that got pulled out of their own world in Volume 3 and they watched me saving another Remnant. They're then reincarnated here and they started fixing their mistakes in this timeline."

Lindsay Jones then gives out her guess: "And I guess the others include team RWBY and some others…"

"Yep. Though, I'm not really expecting to meet them in Beacon. It has been five years after Volume 1…" Stopping at the shop and buying a newspaper, Kuro starts reading it… "Oh, nearly forgot. The Festival."

"Yeah, look up pal. We can see it from our sides." Listening to Arnold's words, Kuro looks up to see people are preparing for it.

"… I guess time has caught up on me." Kuro chuckles to himself about his own joke…

"Wait, if you have saved another Remnant, then how old are you?" Arryn Zech asks.

"About two centuries or so. Oh, I have died when I was 20, so my appearance didn't change."

Arnold feels a little sorry for it. "Wow, sorry for talking about that."

"Don't worry. I don't mind…" He then suddenly stops walking as he smells something in the air. "…Pancakes…"

Samantha Ireland chuckles. "So we're meeting Nora first?"

"Maybe… yep, you're right." Kuro then immediately crouches down, as something pink just flies straight over his head and slams into the light traffic, face-first. As the person slowly slides down to the ground, Kuro turns to the girl and shakes his head. "Can we have a conversation, WITHOUT me either being speared either by you or Ruby, Nora?"

"I'm pretty sure you can't escape that fate, Kuro." Turning his head back, he sees the rest of team JNPR…

"PYRRHA!" Arnold immediately shouts, causing the girl to flinch up a bit at the outburst. The Youtuber starts standing up and grabs the computer screen and shakes it a bit in disbelief. "YOU'RE ALIVE!"

"Well, yes I am… Kuro, can you explain?" She has a feeling she might have the answer already…

"Sorry for his outburst. Anyway, his name is Arnold, a Youtuber, and he has followed RWBY from the beginning, so… you figure."

"Yeah, sorry Pyrrha. I'm too hyped up for this…" Slowly sitting back to his chair, Arnold apologizes.

The girl assures: "Don't worry sir. I'm just surprised, that's all." She then turns to Kuro. "I don't think you're here for the Festival, though."

"Yeah! You should have been in Atlas instead!" Nora, having recovered, climbs on Kuro's back. "Your wife is waiting for you…" She's interrupted by Kuro pinching her cheek, causing her to squirm behind him.

"Wife?" The staff of Rooster Teeth asks instantly.

"Don't mind her. In the world I saved, I have killed Jacques and replaced his place for a long time. Of course, these guys saw it, so…"

Ren shakes his head in amusement as he pries Nora out of Kuro. "That aside, if I'm right, you want to them Professor Oum, right?"

"…" The people from Earth are speechless after hearing that. Did he just say 'Oum', as in…

"Who else? I mean, these people really missed him…"

"MONTY OUM IS ALIVE!" Everyone starts standing up and cheering for what they just heard. The Creator of RWBY has returned!

Waiting for the group to finish their cheering, Kuro says: "I know you're excited, but please refrain from shouting, because your sound is amplified so that I could hear you from this crowded city. And only people who knows me personally could see you and hear me talking to you."

Jen Brown giggles. "Our apology. But, you should have expected that."

"Doesn't mean I like it, though." He then turns to Jaune. "Have any ideas where he could have been?"

"Probably nearby. Team RWBY and our parents are around here somewhere…" Jaune answers.

"Wait." Arnold stops them. "Jaune, if you knew about what happened… you have trained since young to become Huntsman, right?"

"I am." Jaune nods while scratching his head. "Though, there was a lot of convincing to my parents back then."

"At least you managed to get what you want." Miles Luna congrats. "Good for you, man."

"Thank you sir." He then looks behind Kuro, and grins. "Pick your poison, Kuro. Get speared, or get frozen?"

"… Do I look like I have a choice?" He pinches his nose bridge, just in time as an Ice Glyph appears under him, and in the next second, he gets cased in an ice coffin. Moments later, the ice cracks as he frees himself out of the prison… and immediately gets speared by Ruby. "Told you."

"Long time no see, Kuro! How are you doing? Did you have anything crazy weapons with this time?" And so on the questions only Ruby would ask with a widely smiley face, as she lies on Kuro's back. She then hears laughter, as she looks up to see the screen and notices Neath. "Hey, he looks like sir Oum!"

"You know him?" Neath asks back, causing the girl to nod immediately.

"Ruby, off my back first." Kuro orders, and the girl complies. Once he stands up, he turns to the girl and her team. "Don't just throw her like that, Yang."

"Hey, that's a good idea to deal with you!" She just grins widely with her pranks. She then looks at the screen and asks: "They're from your world, huh? Our voice actors if I'm right."

"…T.O told you, huh? Figures." Kuro then turns to the crew. "Yeah, they knew about you."

Arnold asks: "Wait, so… they're real, or…"

"Well… think of our creations as records of the real world. I think that's easy for you to understand."

Arnold thinks a bit, then says: "So if I write a new story about a new world, it's just me recording something real that I can't reach yet by physical means…"

"Yeah." Kuro looks at Blake. "Have you seen mister Monty?"

"Maybe he's still in the Academy. I'm not so sure."

Kuro: "Guess I will have to search him myself, huh? And don't laugh please, IF, Compa."

* * *

Kana just giggles. "They have their reasons to laugh at you, mister Kuro. And I have to say they're quite fond of you if…"

"I don't really need you two to add more salt to my wounds, though." The screen then pops up next to the other two screens, so that everyone could see each other. "Also, can someone check if Clem is still there or not?"

"Sure. Clem, are you there?" IF calls out to the door. Receiving no answers, she replies: "No, she's not there."

"…" Kuro looks like he's about to shout something, but he holds it back. "I will deal with it when it comes. For now, I will head to other places. Closing the vision for a few seconds, standby everyone." The screen turns black, and then the 'Please Wait' sign of Neptunia flashes up. Completed with Kuro starts shouting in his mother tongue in the background.

That makes everyone laugh at his misery. IF then says: "I think that's enough fun for now. It's nice to see you two here."

The two voice actresses stand up and bow to the Hyperdimension duo, as Kana says: "The pleasure's ours. This could help Ideal Factory a lot in the future."

Compa giggles. "It should be ours." She then turns to the producer. "I hope we could cooperate with each other in the future. Making Neptunia even better."

"You being here is good enough already. Thanks for the wonderful livestreaming. Though, do you think what would happen next to your husband?"

IF giggles. "Knowing him, maybe Charlotte would just drop a barrage of icicles on his head or so. For now, this is our goodbye."

* * *

**HE KILL US ALL.**

**HE IS A COWARD, A LIAR, A TRUE DEVIL.**

**HE NEVER LEARNS OF HIS MISTAKES.**

**HE DESERVED TO DIE.**

**Yes, he is... but, killing him would prove you to be like him.**

**THEN WHAT'S YOUR SUGGESTION?**

**WHAT CAN WE DO TO MAKE HIM REALIZE HIS STUPIDITY?**

**Simple... I will help you with it. I will show him that: even Hardy can't save his soul out of my torments.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Back to this story again. And thank you, PixelAce, for your compliment.**

**For now, let's get to chapter 7!**

* * *

"Do you know who the one behind that is?" Shino asks Itami in suspicion, as they're quickly leaving the burning hotel, the fire is being suppressed quickly.

"If my guess is right… they could be the agents of the other countries." The Lieutenant answers, a bit uncertainly.

"So they know we're here. Someone must have leaked the information out." Tomita theorizes their current situation.

"Spies in your midst? Then what can we do now? Obviously following the previous plans will lead us to your enemies' awaiting traps." Hodor, having lived for so long, understands the current situation, and asks.

"Hm… It's the only way then. We're heading towards that place."

* * *

"One…more…page…" An exhausted Risa is trying her best to not fall flat on her table, as she's finishing the last page of her doujinshi so she could give her work to the printers in the next day. She's too focused on her work that she doesn't notice someone opening the door of her room and heading in.

"You're still awake, Risa?" Itami asks in worry, and the girl turns back to see the man she once married. "At least put on the air conditioner, it's freezing in here."

"Senpai…" Risa immediately crawls towards the man, and grabs the pack filled with hot food and hugs it to her face. "Ah, so warm…" She's enjoying too much, that she doesn't notice Itami talking to someone, though she does turn her eyes up briefly to see who he's talking to. "Huh? Who are they, Senpai?"

"You haven't checked the internet?" Itami asks in surprise. "Or even looked out of the window?"

"Sorry for being in debt." Risa frowns, then starts doing so… and she finds the headline about the fire in Ichigaya Park, then the pictures of the Diet start appearing on her computer. She then checks of the picture, and finds out that the girls standing with Itami are the same ones being shown there. Checking a few times by looking back and forth, Risa chuckles evilly: "They are real things… fufufufufu~ I must download these pictures…"

"Who… who is this, mister Itami?" Hodor decides to represent the group to ask the question.

"I…Is she Hardy?" Rory tries to hide behind Itami and she's shaking because of the terrifying scene.

"Uh… everyone, she's Risa, and she's my ex-wife."

"…WHAT?" Everyone shouts in disbelief, then Shino continues: "How could you marry before me with that… but then, it makes sense when we see her now…"

Not caring about that, Risa then receives a notification from a fellow artist. She opens it to find two links. "Hm… what's that about?" She opens both of them, and they're clips from the direct streams of Ideal Factory Company and from a Youtuber called Murderofbirds… about what they thought being fictions being real. "WHAT? How could it be possible?"

"I can explain that." Itami says, as the group starts comforting themselves in the house. "Though, it would take a while, and the evidences are not very…"

"Actually I can help you with that." The two turns to Hodor. "Remember that I wasn't originally from Falmart. I can explain this to you."

"Ah, thank you sir. Now, about what you just saw…"

* * *

"I understand the situation, and while I'm looking forward to meet them, I don't think being involved with this is safe for me."

"She's right leader. Getting a civilian being involved in this kind of problem in dangerous. Also, shouldn't we abandon mister Komakado like that?" Tomita asks in wary.

"I'm sure we're safe when we're with them. About Komakado, he would slow us down with his broken back. Also, don't you feel suspicious that everything happened when he was nearby?" Itami answers, while noticing Rory and Lelei sleeping next to him, with the latter clinging on him a bit too much.

"You mean he is the one leaking the information?"

"Not directly him. However, the agents could just follow him, and eventually follow us in the process."

"Maybe you're right… What's the order, sir?"

"Playing. I'm not wasting my vacation. Call me up at four."

"Roger that."

* * *

"Mister Kano, it's me. My apology for waking you up so early… oh, you're already up? That's good. I don't want to call you in this hour, but I got words that our guests from Special Region are missing… Wait, Kuro already informed you… Thank you. But, I would like to ask you if you are willing to accept the position of Minister for Special Area Incident Countermeasures… Yes, I'm sorry having to push the responsibilities on you… Thank you." Turning off the phone, he shouts in frustration: "SH!T!" and throws the phone away…

"Don't throw it off like that. The phone does nothing wrong." The minister looks to where the phone is, to see a person standing there with his phone in his right hand. The person's wearing a black trench coat with black jeans, black fedora, and he's holding a cane in his left hand. He's currently standing in the shadow so the minister can't see his face. "Though, I do understand that you're a bit frustrated to have such reaction."

But, based on his voice, the Minister could tell who's talking to him. "Mister Kuro?"

"Right, and wrong at the same time." The man walks forward so the light could shine his face, and the minister could see the face of the deity being covered by a scarf over his lower half of his face, with black sunglasses covering his eyes. "The name's The Observer, or T.O for short. My pleasure to see you."

"Um… likewise… how long have you been there?"

"Just a few seconds before you threw the phone. Don't worry about your guests in Special Region. When they're with Kuro today and tomorrow, they will be safe."

"I have my thanks for it. However, may I ask about you a bit? I mean, aside from your outfit, you look exactly like Kuro."

"Think of me as his other self from different universe. However, he and I have worked for centuries."

"I see… my thanks again for your help."

"You are welcome. Continue your rest, mister Minister." And with that, T.O steps back into the shadow and disappears, leaving no traces whatsoever.

"… I'm going to quit. There's no way I could stand this anymore."

* * *

"WE'RE GOING TO PLAY AROUND THIS WHOLE DAY!" Standing proudly in front of the door, Itami announces what he's planning to do.

As everyone looks at him ridiculously, Tomita says, not very pleased at his leader's attitude: "I don't think this is the right time to be messing around."

"No, it's always the right time." Itami counters. "My motto is: TO EAT, TO SLEEP AND TO PLAY WITH EVERYTHING ELSE IN BETWEEN!" With everyone hanging their mouths in shock, and Rory laughing like crazy, Itami continues: "If our enemies are following us, then anywhere is no less dangerous than the others! In that case, why not picking places with as many witnesses as possible for better safety?"

"Well, that's one hell of a plan, mister Itami." Risa's TV suddenly turns static, as everyone turns to look at it, and sees the screen returns to normal as a video call from Kuro. "Well, the most dangerous place is the safest. Do you have any suggestions for today?"

"YES! SHIBUYA AND HARAJUKU!" Risa shouts out with powerful desire to buy things that she's able to afford now.

"That close huh? I'm currently in Akihabara now. Hey, how about I guide the girls there to meet up with you all?" To prove it, Kuro moves the camera further a bit and shows the street he's currently in, with some people behind him taking pictures and such.

"PERFECT!" Risa shouts in excitement.

"Well, I suppose. We're in Tokyo now, so let's take our time for some shopping!" Shino also agrees with the idea.

"We should discuss first before giving the final plan." Itami interrupts the girls' excitement. Then he says to Kuro: "Can you leave us for a while?"

"Of course. Take your time." And with that, the TV turns back to normal programs.

Itami then says: "Alright everyone! We're going into groups, and we will form up in front of Studio Alta at the Shinjuku Train Station, so that we can go to Hakone for the onsen."

* * *

"You're not joining us?" IF asks in curiosity.

"Yeah. I'm heading to the onsen first to check with the military guards. So that you girls could…" Before Kuro could take another step back, Charlotte freezes his feet, completely immobilizes him. "Uh…"

"We're your wives for a reason, Kuro. We know you too well." Pulling him towards them, making the ice slide on the ground, creating sounds that gain a few eyebrows of curiosity, Charlotte says: "Don't even try to run. This is what you signed up for."

Trying to keep his poker face up, Kuro says: "I do need to check-up with them. The agents…"

"You can do that in a blink of an eye." IF interrupts. "Don't try to run. Also, it's a very rare chance for us to celebrate our honeymoon, you know?"

"…" That poker face gains a faint pink cross the cheeks.

"Come on now, Kuro." Wrapping her arm around Kuro's, Compa says sweetly: "Charlotte's daughter needs some new clothes, and who's the best in buying the right ones other than her father?"

That pink turns into red, as he answers: "It's the case… except that she might be a second Rory in the future…"

"Hey, you can fix that easily, right?" IF helps Compa pulling the man, Charlotte, Illococoo and Clem follow. "Like how you did with Charlotte? Also, prepare to turn…"

"THAT'S WHY I'M TRYING TO GET AWAY!"

* * *

Time skip

"Next outfit!" Risa is having quite a good time dressing up Tuka and Lelei with various clothes, as many people start to take notice of the group and take pictures in process.

Shino asks Hodor curiously: "Do you make clothes yourself back there, or you trade stuffs with the other species as well?"

The elder Elf answers: "Back in Halkeginia, it's the former. The latter is for Falmart. We didn't have healthy relationship with human back then."

"I heard. Hey, you should take some for yourself too."

"I will, but after you girls."

Shino then notices someone pulling her sleeves, as she turns to see Clem smiling at her. "Oh, it's you… so the rest is here?"

"LET ME HUG YOU ONCE PLEASE!" The trio then looks who just shouted, and sees Risa trying to hug Compa, and IF is holding the hyped otaku back. Nearby, Charlotte and Illococoo are choosing clothes with Lelei and Tuka while chatting with each other.

And Rory is watching in amusement with… an unfamiliar woman next to them. She wears a black dress that covers down to her heels but exposes her white and smooth shoulders, white arm wears covering to her elbows, her black hair trailing down freely behind her slim back. Hodor would assume she's someone around doing cosplay thing… before he notices the three rings in her left fingers that makes him widen his eyes in surprise. "Shino… is that woman…"

"How could she be so pretty?" Shino has another idea in her mind, as she's focusing on said woman and whispers: "Such flawless woman can't be existed…"

"Dada tends to make that image as flawless as possible to distract people." Hearing that makes Clem giggle. "Though, he doesn't use that much because he's very embarrassed to use that form."

"I see, your Dada… WAIT, THAT'S KURO?" Shino immediately screams after recognizing who Clem just talked about.

Hearing 'her' name being called, the 'woman' turns back, and the duo sees a beautiful face with attractive eyes. "Hello you two. Do you have a good day?" The two takes a step back at how smooth the voice is, and from a person they never expect to have such. "Because I'm sure I don't."

Hodor, seeing the subtle eye twitch, asks in confusion: "K…Kuro, is that really you? What happened?"

"*Sigh* It's my wives. Whenever they go shopping WITH me, they usually force me to change into this form so they could 'buy' me something, in case if I say 'I don't need anything'." Raising 'her' left hand to rub her eyes, Kuro remembers 'her' problems. "It's not that I'm not happy when I go with them, but… this is not something I like to do."

"But it's unfair." Shino grumbles as she checks the 'woman's' face. "Even when it's just temporary, how could you be so pretty like that?"

"Clem did say that I used this for distractions. But it's very rare case." Then Charlotte starts pulling 'her' towards the other girls, making 'her' try to pry her hands off… weakly. "Wait, Charlotte, I'm not…"

"I found something that fits her." With that, Kuro immediately shuts up, and follows her with no further questions.

"… Every man's fear is his woman. Women, in his case." Hodor comments, amused at the scene before him.

"Are you the same? I heard quite few bad stuffs about you from Tuka when she talked about your 'womanizing'." Shino grins back to him.

"Yeah, but I have no such strange interactions like him. Well, let's pick some clothes before you girls could use me as a test subject."

* * *

"T.O, sir? I haven't heard such name before." Itami answers Kano's question. Currently the two officers are stopping on a bridge inside Shinjuku Gyoen.

"He's basically Kuro in every aspect. He visited us and talked about your sudden disappearance yesterday. He also told me about the agents of other countries trying to take the guests from us."

"I can see that point. That's why we're being on guard all the time."

"Good. We don't want troubles from other countries." Then the Minister looks at his watch. "It's time for me to leave." The two then stand straight up, as Kano formally says: "First Lieutenant Itami, process with original plan. Head to the resort in Hakone. It's under the protection of our Special Forces. This is the direct order from the Minister of Defense and Special Area Incident Countermeasures."

"Roger that!" Itami salutes, knowing how serious the Minister is when he says the word 'order'.

"Good luck out there." Kano salutes and walks away, leaving Itami who just bows to him in respect.

'So not only Kuro will protect us, but someone who's basically his doppleganger is watching us from the very beginning… The Observer. That name sounds like The Outsider… those two could be related.'

Meeting time

"Uh, you didn't buy anything?" Itami asks in confusion, because he sees no shopping bags in anyone's hands. Then he remembers: "Ah right, pocket dimension."

"Yep, it is." Kuro, having turned back to normal, asks: "So we are going to the onsen now? By underground train?"

"We are." He then notices Rory starting to hide behind Risa. "Come on Rory, it's not that bad."

"Even Deities have their own fears." Kuro then starts pushing Rory towards to the station, much to her discomfort as she tries to fight back, as he says: "We should go fast. The time's burning fast."

* * *

Location: Sankai Hot Spring Resort

"Wow! Amazing!" The girls from Falmart are marveled at the beauty scene of the hot spring in front of them. Even Pina is impressed. "To see a revolutionary bath house exists in another world… With great view like this… I wish I have one in our place…"

Rory puts her hand into the water and feels the warmth washing over it. She pulls her hand back and she's about to jump into the pool before Shino stops her. "You have to wash your body first before going in!"

Rory tries to object, but Compa already follows Shino: "It's Japan's tradition. A hot spring is very precious to them."

"Aw, I want to go in…"

* * *

"Isn't this privacy intrusion?"

"Then I would be the ultimate stalker. Don't worry, we're doing this to protect them. It's not like we're peeping them or anything."

* * *

"Someone is watching us." Rory suddenly feels someone, or something is focusing on them.

"What? Don't tell me it's the guys…" Shino immediately looks around to try to see if she could find the peepers.

"You can exclude Kuro out." Charlotte calmly defends her husband. "He would NEVER dare to put a step into this place unless something bad happens to us."

Risa counters: "He's still a man. Who knows what he would do?"

"We directly invited him and pulled him into a place like this one time." IF remembers a good old memory. "He immediately ran away and hid in his 'no-girl-allowed' fort he built just for that… Ha, RED was a bit too much back then… Compa, that tickles…"

"Don't squirm, IF. I can't wash your hair if…"

"Your hands are lower than that part, Compa."

"Are they?"

After the girls finish the washing part, they all get into the pool, with Risa scowling Tuka for swimming in it first.

When they are comfortable enough, Risa then asks Compa and IF: "So, how did you two meet Kuro? Was it like in a romantic movie?"

"Quite the opposite. I feared him the moment I saw him." IF sighs when she remembers that. "Adding much to my own fear when we were just facing extinction as well."

"Extinction? You were attacked by demons?" Pina asks in worry.

"Similar kinds. Thankfully he came and protected, but… we could hold for like a few years…" She then changes the subject: "Enough about us. Hey Bozes, how do you feel about Tomita? It seems he has an interest on you."

Said knight blushes in surprise. And furthermore as Pina pushes the matter, accidentally: "Oh, mister Tomita? Now that's something I can't ignore."

Bozes lowers her body further into the water, until her nose is barely over the surface. "But… in our Order of Knights, relationships between men and women are forbidden. And there's the matter of pedigree and social status…"

"Something we would completely ignore." Charlotte addresses her thought.

"Kuro rubbed on you too much, Charlotte." IF chuckles at the Princess' completely nonchalant comment at the matter. "But yeah, Kuro wouldn't care for such codes. And neither would we."

"And about mister Tomita… I do not think badly about him…" And earns Bozes looks of amusement.

"Speaking about relationship…" Rory then turns to Risa. "What's yours with Itami now?"

"I guess… It's when Ginza Incident happened…"

* * *

"Don't. I don't like getting hunted on later."

"Oh come on. You're a man, right? A little risk wouldn't harm much."

"No thanks. I don't want to have winter in hot spring."

The males are also enjoying themselves with the hot spring. And the Hodor has the idea to peek on the girls, and Kuro is stopping him.

Tomita then comments: "You know, if you're anything like Commander, I think you would have been on his side."

Kuro pouts. "No. You may like it, but I don't. I have the unpleasant memories that I wouldn't like to see it soon."

Itami: "You're a man with three wives, right?"

Kuro: "And a few girlfriends. But no, I wouldn't do that."

That catches the others' attentions, as Hodor asks: "Oh, girlfriends as well? Why not marry all of them?"

Kuro: "Because our feelings to each other are not as deep as myself towards my wives."

Itami: "Anyway, do you like to introduce one of them?"

"Well…" In his hand, a light appears, and then a card of some kind appears from it. Kuro then gives it to Itami to look, as Tomita and Hodor lean towards and look what it is. "The card happened without me noticing. But, we did spend our time together after that…"

"How… she's one of the most dangerous…" Itami sees the image of Kuro's 'first' girlfriend, and his knowledge gives him the right reaction.

"I know. Though, it happened after I broke her seal. After that… well, I don't want to say it much."

Itami returns the card, and Kuro puts it into his dimension pocket. "I guess your status prevented you from being killed, again, huh?"

"Yeah, kind of."

* * *

Time skip, Midnight

"Still awake, Rory?" Kuro asks the Apostle, as he is checking on everyone. Rory herself is sitting in a comfy chair, while enjoying her glass of wine with ice. As she poses attractively on her seat, Kuro comments: "A bit shame for you Deities, not being able to grow prettier."

"Not really. Once we Apostles ascend, we can change our appearances at our will. But that means losing our feelings as a human…" She then bites her finger lightly. "You know it, don't you? There's a fight around here."

"Yes." Kuro sits on the chair across the table and pours himself one glass. "I'm waiting for the right signal…"

"Signal for what?" Rory is getting impatient. "Those ones are aiming at us. Just let me go out…"

"That won't do, Rory." Kuro interrupts. "Currently JSDF is trying their best to protect us. We can't just go out there and kill the intruders."

"Why not?"

"In Falmart, you might do the killings on your own. However, here, we're bound with political system. If we go out there, the other countries could accuse Japan of cooperating with you, and then… another World War could occur if we're careless."

"Urgh, my head…" The two turn to see Itami getting up, complaining about the pain in his head caused by a punch. He then notices the two focusing on him. "You two aren't affected by that?"

"You know me. About Rory though, she's occupied by something else." Pouring another glass of wine, Kuro adds some ice in and gives it to the soldier, who receives and replies gratefully.

"You mean JSDF?" Itami knows that Rory would find out sooner or later.

"If only just that. There's a fight here, and this guy is holding me back." Rory accuses Kuro, who just shrugs in return. Then, she suddenly crawls towards Itami, much to his surprise, and starts seducing him: "Or perhaps, you can help me with this…"

"Hey hey! What are you talking about?" Red starts filling Itami's face, as he's trying to push himself away from the hungered girl.

"Do I have to spell it out loud? Maybe you can do things like they did in that TV thing?"

"Wait, we can't do that! Kuro, help me here!" If he's alone, he would have been dead already!

Kuro just chuckles and pulls the girl back off Itami. "As much as I would like to be on the front seat, I believe we can't do so here."

Rory turns back and tries to do the same tactic: "Oh? So you want to replace him with you?"

"No. Because I just got words that you're free to kill those guys."

"…" Rory then grins madly. "Why didn't you say that sooner?"

"I just got it when you're seducing him. Now, let loose."

* * *

"This is madness…" Archer says to his teammates, as he sees the slaughter happening. "I thought it only happened in those Itami's manga…"

"Dude, fictions are real now." Lancer reminds him. "Remember the Diet? The world we thought that's fiction are out there, with one of US confirming it with a few more anime worlds as well."

"Still, it's still hard to believe." Archer says, then focuses back on the fight.

* * *

"Holy crap…" Itami grimaces at the bloody scene after the fight before the group. "We have to get out of here, quick. Our enemies could be nearby."

"You girls get back and prepare." Kuro, turning his commanding mode, orders. "Hodor, you stay with us and collect whatever we can use if Itami's soldiers say so."

"You got it."

After getting the stuffs they need, Itami has pulled Rory back to clean her up. Tomita, Shino and Hodor have gathered the guns and put all of them into one bag. Pina and Bozes try to sneak one of them, but Kuro already knows it and picks it up before they could.

"This is a mess." Kuro sighs at the scene one more time.

"It's expected." Hodor understands. "But they're trying to take us away. We have to defend ourselves."

"I know." Picking up his stuffs, Kuro heads out with Hodor and the rest and gets out of the resort. However, before he leaves completely, he turns back and says: "I'm leaving you for this, T.O."

"Don't worry. We got this."

* * *

After Kuro summoning out a bus, he takes the driver seat and starts taking everyone back to the Gate. "If you're still tired, take a rest."

"We're alright." Pina thanks him. Then she asks: "I don't want to ask this, but, are we being sold out?"

"Unlikely." Charlotte dismisses. "It's more of 'kill-on-sight' order if they brought that much personal with guns."

Shino disagrees: "If we're dead, then the other countries can't gain anything from the Gate."

IF then asks Kuro: "Kuro, was this like back then? You know, when you were just announced to be the CPU?"

Kuro nods. "Kind of. Some wanted it to happen, some didn't."

After hearing that giving Pina a clue for what is happening: "We had too much incidents in these days. The sudden changes of transportation and places to stay, and then this attack. I came here with Bozes for peace negotiations, but our guards vanished and left us there like a chained lamb in front of a kobold. The ones who could do so are the ones controlling the country. So, I presume that there are people who don't want it to happen. Am I correct?"

Itami sighs, knowing that hiding the info is longer an option. "Yes. If you have seen the Diet, the Councilwoman wanted us to say that we suck at protect you all. There are all kinds of people out there."

"You should know that, Pina." Kuro continues. "That's common strategy in political war, when one wants to use the third party's power to intercept with their opponents and gain a foothold of their own. In this case, the other nations want a piece of Falmart to gain more materials, more power and such. Of course Japan leaders want some of it, but currently they want to deal with your leaders first about their casualties before anything else. The peace negotiation, to them, is very important, because in history, they have gone through too many wars already, and they don't want it now. In fact, none wants anymore wars."

Pina nods. "Thank you for understanding."

Itami then asks: "With many worlds connected to yours…"

"They have been informed to not interfere. The less people in this, the less problems we have."

Tomita: "They would want…"

"I know they do. But, they know me better."

* * *

Time skip

"Friends, you said?" Kuro emphasizes the first word as hard as possible, as he turns his head back to Risa and asks. Currently they're stuck on the road because of the 'friends' Risa has gathered in Ginza.

"I… didn't expect this much to show up…" Risa hugs her face in embarrassment, she has totally underestimated these 'friends' of her being able to gather this much.

"I…Is this the army… ready to invade the Empire? Lady Risa summoned them by herself?" Pina is shaken by sheer number of people showing up on the street, along with Bozes as well.

"There's no way I can get through with this bus. We have to walk now. Everyone, prepare your stuff." Kuro orders, and everyone starts doing so. He then turns to Risa. "I'm going to teleport you directly back to in front of your house. If you have any words to say, then it's time." With those words, he starts exiting the bus. He then catches one person's attention by asking: "Sir, can I ask the way to Ginza?"

That earns him the exact same effects like Moses separating the sea, with this as the sea of people, which makes Kuro sweat-drop. "Okay… I didn't expect that." Then he hears a clanging sound, as he turns back to see Rory with her halberd in her right hand and a bouquet in her left. "You ready?"

"I am. The others are still preparing. Oh and Risa is ready."

"Ah right, almost forgot. Let me get back for a second."

* * *

"Nice work out there." The moment they enter the Special Area, T.O greets them directly. Then he and Kuro greet each other with a handshake. "The resort is clean, and Death has delivered the souls. It's done."

"Thanks." He then notices Hodor standing behind him, glaring at T.O. "What is it?"

"Is that your twin brother or so?" The elf asks cautiously.

"Kind of. He's The Observer, or T.O for short. He's basically my other self, first appeared after I left this world years ago."

T.O then gives a handshake with Hodor as well. "Nice to meet you as well." He then turns to Kuro. "You're not going to like this, but… The Creator has a second plan for another Halkeginia."

Kuro deadpans. "Don't tell me… it's about his world?" He points his thumb towards the elf.

Hodor asks in surprise: "What? You're planning to what?"

"It's… a bit personal. However, it has… a few things to do with you."

Hodor: "So… you were responsible for that portal?"

"Well… it's for the future matter. Only when the matter with the Empire is done, would we talk about this, okay?"

"Hm…" Hodor says nothing else and returns to his group.

"T.O…" Kuro raises his right hand up. "I already has this rune, right here. And I'm not going to make it disappear."

"You don't have to. I mean, we DID force our ways through the summoning spell, right?"

"*Sigh* At least the spells won't overlap each other…"

"What about the runes?" Kuro nearly jumps up in fright when Charlotte appears behind him. "Are you going to sever our bond?"

"NONONO! I'm not going to do that!" Kuro replies in panic, not wanting to see her be mad at him.

T.O steps in to help Kuro: "Don't worry, Charlotte. We're not asking him to do so. But, the story might be repeated in the future."

"… As hers?"

"…Yeah."

"As long as you don't do anything… drastic, I'm fine."

"Of course I won't." With that, the princess is satisfied and walks away. Kuro then glares at T.O. "That's not a good way to end this chapter."

"Hey, The Creator is not very creative, you know that yourself, right?"

* * *

**Chapter 7 end!**

**Only a small recap about the events, since I can't go out with the fighting scene. HOWEVER, there will be a full torment scene in the future, featuring you-know-who.**

**And yeah, the end is a teaser for a story I'm planning to write down. But, it won't be up in the site soon.**

**Also yeah, sorry for the fan-service denial. If you want to check what will happen if nothing stops Rory and Itami from you-know-what, then you could check you-know-where and read you-know-what.**

**With that, sorry for the huge delay. See you in the next chapters!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Welp, here we are. I'm sure you guys want to see some beatdowns on Prince Zorzal. Well, it will be more than just that. It will be the worst nightmare.**

**Not going to say more, let's get to the main story!**

* * *

Months later

Time: 15:00

Location: Research Land

"His conditions are getting worse…" IF says in worry, as she's sitting next to Kuro's bed, looking at the tired face of her husband who's trying to fight through the nightmares. "Even if it's for the others… and even when they're not directly causing this… Compa, what can we do?"

"It's beyond our power, IF." The nurse says sadly. "This is vengeance souls we're talking about. We can't bear the burden he's currently having. If we get into troubles, he would blame himself even more."

'WE ARE SORRY.'

'WE DIDN'T KNOW IT WOULD AFFECT HIM THAT MUCH…'

"It's not your fault." IF assures the souls. Currently they have stopped staying inside Kuro's body, so he could have some rest before returning to his work. "If it's anyone's fault, it's his. He never tells us anything when he starts anything recklessly."

'BUT… WE SHOULD HAVE NOTICED…'

IF: "You should. But, that's make Kuro unique to the others, not letting anyone know about him until it's too late."

Gently touching Kuro's face, Compa says: "Though, because of that, we can enjoy a peaceful life again…"

"Mother, Aunt Compa, the Ambassadors of Falmart and Japan are here." Knocking on the door, Schwarz calls out for the two. "They are meeting with Histoire and Arfoire now, but I believe you should hear them as well."

"We will be there." The two stand up, as IF asks: "Can you all warn us if something happens to him?"

'OF COURSE.'

'THAT'S ONE THING WE HAVE TO DO TO THANK HIM.'

"Thank you."

* * *

"He's not doing well?" Pina asks in worry at the condition of the Deity. "But, I thought a God can't be affected by those things?"

"Even a Deity can be sick, miss Pina." Histoire sighs. "Anyway, about the peace negotiation and the party. It's quite hard for us to join, considering our cultures are too different. Kuro would be able to participate, but with his current problem…"

"When would it happen?" IF and Compa walk in and join the conversation.

"About three days from now." Ambassador of Japan, Sugawara Koji, replies. "This is about the prisons' exchange and the future of relationship between three worlds."

"How about we going in his place?" Compa asks. "I mean, we did learn a bit about…"

Pina: "If it's possible, but do you have any ideas about the prisons here? From what we heard, Kuro is the one directly responsible for the management."

Schwarz agrees: "Besides, we can't guarantee your safety. Even if we're stronger than them, that doesn't mean we can't be ambushed."

Pina pinches her nose bridge in mild annoyance. "This is not good. Without him, we can't say more about…"

"I believe the party has to be delayed." Much to everyone's surprise, Kuro walks into the meeting room with Sakuya holding him up. "There's a shift in space that would create an earthquake soon." Kuro says between his hard breathes, his eyes not focusing much on them.

"Kuro! Don't just get out of the bed like that!" Compa immediately runs towards him and holds him in place. "You're not in any conditions to leave the bed!"

"I will rest… after this…" Coughing once, he continues: "Koji, call back to your general about the earthquake. Pina, you will head directly to the palace and warn your father about it."

Seeing the man who could end their lives in a second in that status, Pina couldn't help but be worried even further. "Miss Compa is right. If you're sick…"

"It's because of your brother, Zorzal." Pina's face turns white after hearing the name. "He's going to be punished for all the sins he has committed tonight. Tell him not to run, or he will suffer worse."

"Father…" Schwarz starts. "You're in no conditions to deliver the judgment. I will handle it for you."

"No, your body can't handle it. No one can." Coughing harder, Kuro closes his right eye, and his left one's rune starts appearing, scaring Pina further. "Go. Warn everyone. Your people will be scared in their minds, Pina. And you should protect them by warning them first about the problem."

Pina slowly nods, and then heads out for the escort. Meanwhile, Koji walks to Kuro and replaces Sakuya. "Sir Kuro, please just rest. We will handle the rest."

"Not until *cough* the judgment ends. Let's go to Alnus Hill. We have to warn them…" Kuro keeps repeating the words without caring about his surroundings.

Schwarz shakes his head in disapprovingly. "Father… Let's go before his body overloads."

* * *

Time: 19:00

Location: Red Light District

"An earthquake, sir?" Mari Kurokawa receives the message from the Headquarter warning the soldiers stationed there about the incoming event.

"Yes. Kuro has confirmed it, and he and Itami are heading towards the Palace to warn the Royals as well."

"Roger that." Turning off the call, Mari starts preparing everything so that nothing will break in the Earthquake. However, during the preparation, someone knocks on the door of her place. Preparing her gun hidden in her back, she slowly opens the door… and sees the harpie girl from before.

"Kurokawa, we need to talk now." Opening the door wider, the nurse-soldier sees the rest of the working girls from the brothel waiting there, scared of something.

"Come in, quick." Fully opening the door, the girls start filling the place. Once everyone's in, Mari closes the door. "Okay, what's going on Mizari?"

"It's Tyuwal. She said she felt an earth shake before the eruption of the volcano near her hometown."

"An earthquake? That matches with what the HQ told us." Mari connects the dot. "Alright everyone, follow our orders. The earthquake is not very dangerous, but we still have to be cautious."

* * *

"It's coming." Kuro says, exhausted because of the souls tearing his body apart.

"Stop talking, father." Schwarz advises. "You need to keep your strength up."

"S… How could everyone still be okay? An earth shake is happening…" Pina and the other royals are scared about the upcoming event, and yet the people from another worlds look completely fine.

"It's normal in our world." Itami says nonchalantly. "Also, we have confirmed that…" The earthquake stops his words, as everyone ducks and covers their heads in fright. The soldier then turns to ask the sick Deity: "Do you know what could cause this?"

"Portals… interactions between realms… movements of universe…"

"Not now, father." Schwarz immediately stops him. "Save that for later. We don't want to scare everyone here."

That immediately brings more fear to Pina, as she slowly looks up, and releases a sigh of relief that it's not as bad as before. Hamilton notices that and asks: "Your Highness, what's wrong?"

"It's… nothing." After a few minutes, the earthquake stops. The princess then asks: "Is it over?"

"Uh, not really." Schwarz answers. "Normally there will be aftershocks. But there's still time to warn your father."

"Then we shouldn't waste any more time!"

* * *

"We are here." Everyone stops before a massive door, decorated with the insignia of the Empire. "You all stay here, I will head in first." That earns her nods from the others, and bows from the Falmartians.

"Father, are you okay?" Opening the door and walking in, Pina shouts out to the Emperor.

"Oh? I thought it would be either Zorzal or Diabo to be here first, however, it's you Pina." The Emperor has woken up from the terrifying earth shake, as he's sitting on his bed while sweating heavily.

"Please ready yourself, father." Pina kneels respectfully. "I will accompany you to the audience chamber."

A while later

"Calm down everyone!" After helping her father sitting on the throne, Pina starts ordering the soldiers and servants. "Dispatch a messenger to the ministers and to the generals of the army's Imperial Capital Garrison, order them to assemble! Have the officers take command of the Imperial Guards and quickly fortify the palace's defenses! Servants, start cleaning up the hall!"

"You have grown up so well, Pina." Molt praises his only daughter. "By the way, can you introduce me these unfamiliar faces over there… and call someone to take care of young man? He seems to be very sick." The Emperor notices Kuro being held by Schwarz.

"Right! Sir Sugawara, envoy from the nation of Japan!" The Ambassador bows, while the soldiers salute. "The two there are Kuro and Schwarz, they are… the Ambassadors from the Second Gate." Schwarz bows once, before focusing back on holding his father.

"Oh, the two nations from another gates? Why did you bring them here in a time like this?" The Emperor has known of his daughter's work, but he can't help but be curious as why they're here at this hour.

"My deepest apology, father. They have accustomed to the shaking of the earth, and there may be more in a few minutes…"

"There are more?" That shakes the Emperor a bit, not wanting to experience the event again.

"They could give us some advices, so I have led them here."

"Oh?" The Emperor calms down a bit. "Very well, I welcome you, honored envoy…"

"STILL BEING SCARED OF THE EARTHQUAKE? I THOUGHT YOU SHOULD HAVE OVERCOME THAT LONG AGO?" A completely unfamiliar voice comes out of Kuro, making everyone turn to him in confusion.

Then Schwarz recognizes what's going on, and he just casually lets go of Kuro, making him fall to the ground. Sugawara asks in surprise: "Schwarz, what are you doing? He's hurt…"

"Not anymore." Schwarz coldly says, sending shivers on everyone's spine.

Then, shadow starts enveloping Kuro, startling everyone. A few seconds later, the shadow disappears, showing a different man in place of Kuro. However, Molt recognizes who that person is. "The King of Alguna? How did you…"

"Surprised to see me? You should." Standing straight up, the person who thought to be killed looks at Molt straight in the eyes. "After all, you sent us to our deaths."

"W…What is going on? Pina, how did this happen?" Molt immediately asks Pina out of fear.

"I…I don't know…" Pina answers in fright, clearly not expected this to happen.

"Don't push yourself, miss Pina. After all, we're here to deal with Zorzal alone, not you or your father."

"…" Pina can't say anything for that, however, when the Emperor asks what he just talked about, she answers: "He… Kuro… is planning to punish Zorzal for the sins he has committed."

Molt turns to look at the grinning dead king, then says: "Do you really think you have the authority to do so? Even when you're a king, which you are already dead…"

"Of course, under normal circumstances, I couldn't do so." The smile on the dead king suddenly widens in a creepy way. "However, the one helping us doing to punish is beyond our level to judge him. In fact, we're lucky that he didn't go all out on you, otherwise there's no empire left to rule."

Pina falls on the ground, her face pale at the scene as she remembers the warning she's given when she was in Italica. Molt is also scared, but he doesn't show it on his face too obviously. "So what is he then?"

"He is…"

"FATHER!" Just in time for Zorzal to rush in with his own soldiers, as they're dragging the slaves inside the room as well. The scene that makes the people from Japan to grimace in disgust, and Schwarz to narrow his eyes dangerously. "Are you alright? Let us depart immediately!"

"Just in time." The dead king turns back to the son of the Emperor. "Lady, it's your time."

"WITH PLEASURE." Shadow engulfs the man once again, making Zorzal's followers point their weapons towards the person. Then, a bunny warrior, fully armored and weapons ready in her hands, smiles menacingly towards the prince. "Zorzal! It's time for you to atone for what you have done to us!"

And with that last warning, the bunny warrior leaps towards the prince and raises her swords up. However, before she could slash the bastard, the soldiers have positioned before him and blocked the hit, before they push her off. The prince turns angry and says: "How dare you point your weapons towards me! Soldiers, kill her!"

"DO YOUR WORST! I'M ALREADY DEAD!" With that declaration, the bunny warrior charges again, trying to get pass through the defense, completely ignoring the swords and spears stabbing on her.

"T… What happened to him, Schwarz?" Itami asks the man in fear.

"It's the spirits of the dead taking over his body." He then turns back to the slaves and then grimaces once he sees a particular one. "Itami… isn't that… yours?"

Everyone follows Schwarz's eye gaze, and they're horrified at what they're seeing. A Japanese woman, exhausted mentally and physically, with scars and bruisers all over her body. Immediately Shino rushes to the girl and cuts the ropes that bind her, as Sugawara turns to Molt and asks: "Your Majesty! This person is one of our citizens being brought here as your prisoners. And yet, you're treating her like slaves. We would like to hear an explanation. And Your Majesty Pina, were you aware of your own brother doing this?"

"N…No… I never thought your… wait, in Italica…" She should have been more aware! That girl from Italica was almost being sold as a slave before being rescued by Count Formal. Kuro has also said about other people being caught in the first fights as well. And based on what Japan and the second world could do… the peace negotiation is not going to end well!

"Lucky for you, Pina." Schwarz speaks up. "We already knew the situation, but we can't do much until the peace negotiation goes through well. However, this is the last warning. DO NOT treat anyone as slaves, because if you do, Zorzal's punishment will be on you." Then another shadow engulfs Schwarz… and instead of any normal humanoid creature standing before them, a true demon appears. "Now excuse me, the punishment should be on the way." Holding up his scythe, the demon dashes towards the mob of soldiers, then with one swift swing, he cuts down the entire defense in half.

Taking the distracted fear, the bunny warrior manages to breach through the protectors and grabs Zorzal's neck and throws him right in the middle of the group of the Japan soldiers, who immediately step aside not wanting to be on the way of the rampaging warrior. The other soldiers try to get to him, but the demon immediately stands between the mob and the prince, stopping them from advancing.

Trying to stand up, Zorzal points his angry fingers towards the bunny warrior. "Don't you dare come closer! If you kneel to me and beg for forgiveness, I will…"

* * *

The punishment begins.

"LIKE HELL WE WOULD DO THAT!" Grabbing Zorzal's neck again with lightning speed, the bunny warrior punches once into his chin, shattering his jaw, then strikes her right knee right at his abdomen, making him spill blood from his mouth. "YOU DARE DESTROYED OUR PLACE!" With a straight punch to the face, she breaks the prince's nose. Then, after slamming the body to the ground, she steps on Zorzal's neck, trying to suffocate him as the man tries to free himself by pushing the leg back. "YOU LIED TO OUR FACES ABOUT OUR QUEEN, MAKING HER LOOK LIKE A TRAITOR IN OUR EYES!" Retracting her leg and kicking hard on the waist of the man's body, the bunny warrior pulls out her sword and stabs right on Zorzal's right hand, the blade going through the floor effortlessly until the hilt stops. Screaming in pain, the prince tries to pull it out to no avail, as it's too deep for him. Pulling another sword, the warrior aims for the heart…

"STOP! DON'T KILL HIM!" Pina pleads, not wanting to see his brother, even if he's ruthless and deserved to die, die there.

"THE PUNISHMENT IS ONLY BEGINNING!" Completely ignoring the pleading, the sword goes through the heart, making a sickening sound of flesh being stabbed with full force. Zorzal screams again as the blood coming from all the wounds. The bunny warrior then reaches under her armor and pulls out a revolver, then she aims at the lower body and shoots right at the man's private part, then at both kneecaps, and the blood spills out even more and more. The scream intensifies, and that annoys the bunny warrior as she aims at the neck and shoots again, completely destroying the vocal cord, making the prince only be able to cry out in nonverbal words. And to end her punishment, the gun is pointed towards the head, and the last two shots mark the targets: the eyes.

With that, the Prince lays dead on the floor, as blood spills over the floor, making everyone turn sick when seeing the brutal scene, and think that's the end. Molt rubs his eyes in sorrow: "You idiot of a son. I told you not to…"

"ROUND TWO!" However, much to everyone's surprise and horror, a clock appears in the air, and the clock hands start spinning in reversed clockwise, as the punishment's actions suddenly start to revert back… and when the clock stops, it stops at when the bunny warrior was about to grab the Prince's neck.

And, to Zorzal's sheer horror, he remembers what just happened to him, as his body aches in pain. "WH… WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

"YOUR PUNISHMENT CONTINUES!" In front of him now, instead of the bunny warrior, a male elf is standing in front of him with a bow in his right hand, and a quiver of arrows on his back. Then, wooden vines suddenly emerge from the ground grabbing around the Prince's waist, legs, arms and neck, restricting all of his movements. A glyph appears above them, and the elf steps back and shots one of the arrows over the glyph. However, when it falls down and reaches the glyph's upper side, the lower side releases barrages of fire arrows that pierce on the prince's body, making him feel the burning and piercing sensation and scream again as the fire starts to burn up, and it reaches to maximum as the wooden vines catch on fire as well, completely engulfs Zorzal in the fire. A minute later, the scream stops, and the ash body falls to the ground motionlessly, indicating that Zorzal has died… again.

"AGAIN!" Another time rewind. And this time, a Volralden with a huge zweihander on his back is the one to do the work.

"PLEASE, FORGIVE ME!" Immediately backing away in fear, Zorzal pleads to try and save his life from another torment.

"FORGIVE YOU? IF YOU WANT ONE, THEN YOU MUST GIVE ONE FIRST!" Grabbing the prince's right leg, the Werewolf swings the bastard over his head and slams him to the back, disconnecting the leg from the main body in the process. Trying to crawl away, Zorzal doesn't notice the Volralden raise his zweihander up and strike through his leg, shattering the bone. The Werewolf pulls out the sword, then aims his sword so the blade would line perfectly with the spine, and stabs through the body again, breaking the spin completely. With the body perfectly in the sword, he raises the body up and, with one vertical move, the sword cuts the body of the prince in half.

By this time, everyone who's weak-minded is vomiting in disgust and fear. Many have covered their eyes in fear, while the others can only look while not being able to do anything, because there's a green demon guarding so the punishment could continue without being interfered. Pina watches in total fear, knowing that she would end up the same if she did a wrong move.

Molt is in the same page. However, he's in greater fear, because, the 'sick' person is not human at all. And with the power of reviving and returning the time, that person could destroy the Empire entirely by himself if he didn't restrain himself. From now, he has to pick the right words to make sure the Empire won't perish against such dangerous enemy.

"F…Forgive…Save…" Zorzal is a complete mess now, as his body refuses to work after the torment, and his mind is overwhelmed with pain and fear.

"IT'S NOT FINISHED!" A mage chants a spell, and Zorzal is then covered in a sphere of water, drowning him in the process. Another spell then occurs, and a cloud of thunder appears on the ceiling, follows with lightning striking directly to the sphere, electrocuting the prince and nearly kill him. Then, a small tornado raises around the prince, sucking out all the air inside his lung. The debris in the room then gets sucked in and slammed into the prince at once, crushing the entire body in the process.

"NOW, TO SHOW WHO YOU JUST MESSED WITH…" The true self of Kuro appears in front of everyone, as sharpened strings spread from his skeleton hands and tie up in all joint parts in Zorzal's body. And with a pull, the strings cut the body into minces, leaving only the head intact. Grabbing it with the skeleton hand, as the owner of the head still barely alive and very afraid to the core, Kuro stares at him with his left eye. "FOR ALL THE SINS YOU COMMITTED, FOR ALL THE DISASTERS YOU HAVE CAUSED. I FORBID YOU FROM ANYMORE PEACEFUL DREAMS, INSTEAD IT WILL BE FILLED WITH NOTHING BUT THE TORMENTS, OVER AND OVER AGAIN!" With that, Kuro slams the head to the ground and stomps on the head, completely shattering it under his boot.

The punishment ends.

* * *

Time rewinds, for the last time. Zorzal lays there, emotionlessly, his eyes whiten in fear and horror, though his twitching fingers indicate that he's still alive. The warrior bunny kneels on her knees, breathing hard from the torment. She then turns her head to a particular slave. "Queen Tyuule…" The person backs away a bit in fear, however, the warrior stands up and walks to her and gives her a hug. "We're sorry… we shouldn't have thought of you like that. The bastard lied to all of us…"

"… I'm sorry for forbidden you all…" Tears start flowing out of both bunnies' eyes, as they remember that disastrous day. "I shouldn't have sought myself like that…"

"It's for our safety… and yet because of his words… Our deepest apology. Please return back as our Queen one more."

"But… we have nowhere to return…"

The two release the hug to look in each other's eyes, as the deceased warrior answers: "Kuro could help you… help us to return to our glory day… please, take the chance…" The warrior then pulls out a small knife and cuts the collar away.

Gently touching her now free neck, Tyuule looks at the warrior, a bit doubtful at the statement. "He could betray us…"

"He won't. We can promise you that."

"… I will believe you. By the way, you keep saying 'we'…"

"It's because there are many more bunny warriors in the body, but I am representing them." She then helps the former queen standing. "Let's get out of here."

"Seems like it's over." The green demon lowers his guard, and turns back into Schwarz. "Miss, tell everyone to leave my father's body at once. He's reaching the limit."

"…What does he mean?" Tyuule asks in confusion.

The warrior bunny sighs. "Our time is up. He can only allow his body to store our souls at this point. From now on, please find our warriors and return our time to the glory." Pulling out her cape, the warrior puts it on the queen to cover her. With that, the souls start escaping the body, along with the appearance of the warrior slowly returning back to Kuro. Every soul starts flying off and heading to either Hardy or Emroy, except one which lands on the hands of Tyuule for a few seconds before following the other souls.

And with everything done, Kuro's body starts to fall until Schwarz manages to grab him on time. "Jeez, this one would be the worst coma you could have for years."

"This sh!t is messed up…" Shino comments, grimaced at what she just saw.

Itami has to agree. Not even one of Shino's 'beating up' spars would end up like this. He then sends a look to Sugawara, and the latter understands. The Ambassador looks up to the Emperor and says: "Your Majesty, Kuro was one of our people before. Seeing his reactions, you could tell how angered we were when we found out what happened to the captured people. The banquet, unfortunately, will have to wait, until we find our citizens, dead or alive." He then turns to Pina. "I hope we could cooperate to find them. We're looking forward to hear your information."

Pina, after seeing what just happened, gulps fearfully and nods.

Itami then issues the order: "Kuribayashi, you will be the vanguard. Tomita, protect the bunny girl and the rear. Let's go."

Upon seeing the intruders planning to go away, one of the Captains call out the soldiers to put up and defense line, until the Emperor tells them to stand down. He then says: "Sir Sugawara, your country must be a strong country, given by your win against our army. However, it has a weakness: it loves its people too much, and that will come back to haunt you. Strong justice can be easily predicted. Strong faith will lead to great losses."

The Ambassador nods understandingly, then answers: "Our country has taken up that weakness as a national policy, and the JSDF trains to protect that. Would you like to test that?"

"Also…" Schwarz continues: "Faith is the strength the leaders of Gamindustri needs to protect their people. The more faith people put in them, the stronger they will be."

"But still, you won't be able to stop us…" The Emperor, still thinking they have the upper hand, says.

And Schwarz interrupts by pointing his free hand on Kuro: "This man here is the one responsible for the defeat of half of your strength sent to the second Gate. And I will tell you this, there's still one more person who's as strong as him."

That stuns everyone who's not aware of that fact. Then, the aftermath of the earthquake comes. Itami orders: "Everyone, let's go."

…

…

…

"WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" All soldiers shout up in disgust, as Shino asks Schwarz: "What the *&^% just happened? What happened to Kuro? What are those souls? Why…"

"Stop." Schwarz coldly interrupts. "I can answer those, but for now, we have to return to your nearest base and give them…" He points his free fingers towards Noriko and Tyuule. "Proper clothes and food."

"Geez. That would be more terrifying than Rory's rampage." Itami reminds the event in the hot spring resort.

"You have no idea. It could have been worse."

* * *

**Chapter 8 end!**

**Yep, an endless nightmare of your deaths. Idea from Corpse Party, if you haven't read my previous stories.**

**With that, the tension between three worlds rises even more. Four, if you count the realm of Falmart gods as well.**

**That's all, for now. See you all in the next chapters!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Yeah... last chapter before this story goes to the waiting line. Delaying too many other stories already.**

**Now, a bit to reviews:**

**To isolono: It's not light, if that could force you to drop into a coma. The reason will be in the story.**

**Zorzal will get more torments for sure. What happened was just a light warning. And spoilers: He can recover from that.**

**To guest: Don't really know how to answer that, though.**

**With that off the way, here's chapter 9!**

* * *

YOU BETRAYED YOUR CLAN!

YOU SOLD YOURSELF TO THE EMPIRE FOR YOUR LIFE!

YOU ABANDONED YOUR BRETHENS!

YOU DESERVE NO MERCY FROM US!

DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!

* * *

"AHHH!" Waking up with a major nightmare, Tyuule pants heavily in fear. It's been a long time since she has that kind of torment in her mind. Clutching her chest and trying to regain her breath, the bunny girl looks around and sees an unfamiliar room, but she could recognize the smell of medical chemicals. She then looks down to her body to see that she's wearing a long, plain white shirt. And with that, she remembers the event last night…

"It's not a dream…" One of her desires has fulfilled. That bastard of a prince has been tortured, with his own deaths. A true satisfaction to see him cowering in fear after each kill, all the begging being ignored by his killer, and it happened in front of everyone. She wanted to be the one doing so, but… she could do it once at most, so seeing that was better.

And about her clan… it seemed that every bunny warrior who's dead has forgiven her since they have found out the truth. With that, she's grateful to the person who helped her with that…

"I should go and thank him… but I don't know where he is, and if he's awake or not…"

She doesn't even know if he managed to survive that at all. She shudders at the thought of having multiple people living in her body.

"… Would he even keep his words?"

"You want to sit there and speak like a mental, or you want to go out and take fresh air?"

She turns to the voice to see the other man from last night. She frowns. "How long have you been here?"

"The whole night. Aunt Compa will get here to check on you soon, but you can go out a bit. It's about seven in the morning already."

"The whole night?" Tyuule is a bit dumbfounded.

"Yeah, making sure you patients don't suddenly have a seizure or something."

Now Tyuule looks again and sees other patients on the other beds. Then she asks: "Are we in Rectus Hill?"

"Yeah. Father made a temporary base here, with a small-sized city for the refugees as well." Schwarz answers, then he checks his phone. One of his to be exact. "Also, your story… if Zorzal doesn't get punished by Hardy when he meets her, then I'm not sure if she's doing her work properly."

"The Goddess of Underworld?" Tyuule asks, blank eyes staring at him about saying the name of the person so casually.

"Yeah… at least, that's what Death told us."

"Hey Schwarz! How are you doing?" A young lady with long, light pink hair wearing a white nurse outfit walks into the infirmary, in her hands lie a stack of paper.

"Huh, Compa? I thought Aunt Compa is working today?" Schwarz turns to look at the girl in confusion, not expecting the younger girl to be here.

"She and your mother are taking care of Kuro. We shouldn't separate them now, should we?" The nurse puts the stack on the table, before noticing Tyuule already sitting on her bed awake. "Oh good morning miss! Do you have a good sleep?"

"…I do. Thanks for asking." Tyuule answers back, not really understanding the situation. There are two persons with the same name?

"I will leave you two for now. When you're done checking on her, please guide her to the main base of this place." Before he's out of the place, he adds: "Don't bondage her like you did to Neptune, okay?"

"Come on! That's bandages!" Compa weakly protests.

"…Bondages?" Tyuule asks, a bit fearfully.

"Ah! It's nothing like what you think, miss!" Compa tries to explain. "I just used too many bandages, that's all!"

Seeing the girl stumbling in her words, Tyuule can't help but chuckle at that. "My apology. Schwarz spoke about some checking, what's that about?"

"Oh? It's just standard protocol for new people, so that we could see if you're injured or being ill or not." Pulling a drawer and taking some equipment, Compa turns back to her and smiles. "Don't worry, it won't hurt."

* * *

An hour later, Empire's Palace

"I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOUR HIGHNESS!" Marquis Casel El Tiberius, the leader of the Empire Senate, shouts out his question so that everyone can hear what he says. "What are you planning to do about this unprecedented damage and humiliation? The enemy's giant swords flew on the Empire's sky as their own, and destroyed the senate building without much effort! We would have been all dead if we were there!" Stopping a bit so the others could swallow his words and for him to take a quick breath, he continues: "The people are scared, believing that the gods have sent their wraths to their home! All of this is the result of us taking the people from beyond the Gate to us as slaves! Learning that angered the enemy's envoys, and you see here!" He then points towards a completely zoned out Zorzal, who has no physical treatments on him, but he's staring at the sky, unmoving when hearing his name. "Many people, including Your Highness, have seen it! The enemy's god has lent his hands for our own people, who Prince Zorzal has betrayed and killed, to deliver the punishment by killing him over and over! And that's just personal matters! Who knows what could have been if he destroyed the building with US in it for their people's revenge!" Stop again. "ONE SLAVE! THAT'S ENOUGH TO ANGER ALL OF THEM! PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS TO US!"

Everyone looks down to the ground, not knowing what to say. They don't know the full picture, and even some who have contacted with Japan's Ambassadors can't understand what caused last night outburst.

Then, they remembered one royal member, Princess Pina, has gone through both Gates. So the Senate calls up for her.

After standing in front of everyone, the Princess tells her experiences after meeting with the Japan from Italica till now. Then, about the other one: "The Gate in Rectus Hill… it connects to a world called Gamindustri… where the leaders are God and Goddesses in true nature. They are different from ours since they're not the manipulations of factors, and they don't control people's fate. What they do, are to protect the people, and provide what the people need. But, they can only live when people give them faith, and that's a cycle their world has worked on for millennia. And to add more, their world is even more advanced than Japan in every aspect."

With that, the other Senates recognize what kind of threat they're facing.

Then Pina pulls out the lists of the prisoners, causing every Senate to fight over them and cause a minor chaos a bit. After they settle down a bit, the Princess continues: "I was allowed to pick some of them to be instantly released. I intend on prioritizing those whose families are helping with the peace negotiation."

"That's unfair, Your Highness!" "What about the rest? Will they be reduced to a slave?" Such questions are being asked, as the Senates are all worried about their children and relatives' fates.

"There's nothing to worry about." Pina assures the others. "Slavery has been decided as illegal in both worlds. And there is no ransom either. Though, the world in Alnus Hill wants a concession in the peace deal, while the other just returns the prisoners without a second speak."

"That's no different from a ransom!" "But at least it's better than being a slave." That's the Senates about the concession. About the other: "They must have some secret plans if they just returned their captured that easily."

Hearing the complaining makes her sigh. She then says: "There's a reason for it. Because of our attacks, Japan has suffered with deaths of their people and the destruction of their constructs. That's why they wanted the concession. On the other world… Their God simply said that: Our attacks to them were just suicide events. Since we 'didn't do any damages to them', it would be unwise to demand anything from us. Though, he did ask us to have a conversation for the 'universal' business trade in the future." Then, she adds: "But, I guess after that event, that future would be long away."

Then, she remembers about Marquis' question, so she continues: "I have seen what happened to the prisoners in Gamindustri, and I saw them completely unharmed, and treated normally like anyone else. That happened the same with Japan, and both worlds show their hospitality to them as well, and His Majesty has seen it for himself. That's in their nature without any particular gains. They have already known that we took our prisoners, but once they learnt how we treated them… this is their first, and last warning, about that matter."

* * *

Hours later, Alnus Hill, JSDF Base

"I understand. Give my best wish to him for me, please." Putting down the phone, Hazama massages his left temple. "And they said that's just personal…"

"What happened to that guy, sir?" One soldier asks, as he's giving some reports to the General.

"About what happened last night. Kuro will be out of sight for a while, and we won't know how long it will be until he wakes up."

"I heard he tormented the poor prince with true death sentences, sir. At least, that's from both Sugawara and Itami."

"Knowing who he is, we can believe it's the case. Anyway, is the video done?"

"All done, sir."

"Good. That's one good shot for the report."

The Refugee Camp

"Wandered souls returning to the realm of Emroy and Hardy?" Hodor asks in disbelief. "I thought all souls will go there after they die?"

"Not every soul. Sometimes, there are souls that died with remorse, and they wouldn't leave the living world peacefully. They keep clinging on the world until somehow their desires are sated." Rory swings the halberd in her hand freely before continues: "Hardy should have done something about it, but she just ignored that and did her own things."

"What about Lord Emroy?" Tuka asks in curiosity. "He wouldn't let something like that happen, right?"

"I think he's on the same side with Hardy at this point, though he did follow those souls for a time before leaving them on their own."

"And… how did they return?" Lelei asks this time.

"Who else other than the wandering God? Though, Milord said that because of helping them, Kuro has dropped unconscious after that, and he's then brought back to his world."

Hodor then suggests: "Then we should pay him a little visit. He has done quite much to help us in recent months."

Rory: "Maybe… but it will take a few days…"

"I can take you all to him." Chaos appears next to Lelei. "I mean, you know who I am, right?"

Tuka expresses her gratefulness: "Then we can count on you. Thank you very much!"

"You're welcome. Kuro's friends are also my and my sister's friends as well!"

* * *

Afternoon, Gamindustri

"*Pant* *Pant* I thought… human… can't be that fast…"

"We're in my world, and everyone has better status than the ones in your and Kuro's old world."

Tyuule stabs her sword on the ground and holds herself off the ground. After checking that she doesn't have any kinds of sickness, her wounds of abusing and torment got healed quickly by magic (which she's very grateful, because Falmart doesn't have any healing spells). During the treatment, she has asked the nurse about Kuro's promise to the dead warriors. The nurse confirmed it to be true, however, she said that Tyuule requires time to recover after three years of being slaved. Tyuule thought about it, then said it's no need, but the nurse insisted otherwise.

And when one of the agents, IF, walked in and she talked to the girl about it…

It led to her being beaten up by said agent.

"Although, you lose because you're being beaten up for years without fighting back. That weakens your strength." IF walks to the tired bunny warrior. "Get a little rest. Tomorrow, we can ask for someone to help you regaining your shape."

"… Why do you have to go all the way, just to help a person like me?" The former queen asks, still being suspicious at how generous these people are.

"We all know how being betrayed feels like." IF starts helping the other girl standing up, and she walks the girl out of the arena. "Also, Kuro wants it to be fair. Basing on what we found, you sold yourself so that the Empire would spare your people. But that prince betrayed your trust and killed them. That's the thing that triggered us."

"…"

"If it was just you being defeated and sold yourself as the result, we wouldn't care much since it's your decision. But… After hearing stuffs like that, I'm surprised that Kuro didn't already kill him for real."

They then reach the sickbay, as Compa starts healing Tyuule again while scolding IF: "Iffy! You don't have to hit her like that! She is still recovering!"

"Sorry, but that's the only way to show her that she's not ready yet." The girl apologizes to her lover, knowing full well that she's getting scolded at.

"… My thanks to you for making myself realize it." The bunny smiles, a true smile for the first time.

"Well, you're welcome." IF scratches her head with a little pride. Then she picks up one of her phones and starts scrolling through the contact list. "Let's see who I could ask for help…"

* * *

An hour later, the base on Rectus Hill

"Are you sure Kuro's in coma? Because I don't see anyone rushing or panicking." Hodor asks his question in confusion, as the guards here seem to do their works without a concern of what happened to their leader… or they didn't know, yet.

"Well, if it happened to the other leaders, then people might be in panic indeed." Chaos nonchalantly answers. "However, if it's Kuro, people could shrug it off, considering he could recover fast, and the land could protect itself from invaders."

"So the gate's where we land?" Rory asks while pointing her finger towards the location.

"Yeah. And with that we walk in."

After a few more minutes, they're now in front of the main tower of Research Land (getting teleported there). Tuka's eyes are swirling a bit in dizzy. "It's… not so pleasant…"

"You will get used to it… eventually." Chaos says. "Anyway, let's head in…"

"Chaos, for real?" Schwarz suddenly walks up from their behind, causing the girls to jump up in surprise. "Did you tell them how Father looks like now?"

"Eh…no?" Chaos tilts his head. "Is it necessary?"

The half demon narrows his left eye, before he sighs and motions them to follow him. "Don't shout when you see him, okay? It's really annoying."

… "EEKK!" The girls (except Rory) shriek in fear after seeing Kuro's 'broken' state in the bed, being watched from both sides of the bed by older IF and older Compa.

And the latter immediately puts her fingers on her lips and whispers: "Please be quiet! He needs to rest."

The girls quickly apologize, with Rory walking closer and touches the skull half of the face. "So this is real? That's how he looks like?"

"Yes." IF confirms. "And everyone knows it. Though, Kuro used the normal form more often so people could feel easier speaking to him."

"It is perfect timing that you come, though." The young Compa walks in with Tyuule, having proper clothes, as she's having a syringe… a HUGE syringe on her back, that makes everyone from Falmart back away in fear. "Can we leave with you to Alnus for a day? We need to find somebody there."

"Well, the ride is me, so I don't mind." Chaos answers, not really annoyed being someone's ride.

Tuka then puts the flower bouquet (the group made it before heading to Gamindustri) on the table next to Kuro's bed and says: "If he wakes up, please give him our best regards."

IF smiles. "I'm sure he heard you already, and he would be very grateful for your concern."

Hodor then asks: "What really happened to him?"

Compa: "Oh, it's nothing too much. He's reordering his memories so they won't get conflicted with the souls' nightmares and memories."

Hodor looks the sick man from the corner of his eye, and says: "Anyone would say that he's already dead when they see this."

Younger Compa: "He's dead even before he met miss IF and miss Compa. They just decided to put that fact in the back because he's still as alive as ever."

Hodor chuckles. "Well I will believe that. Kuro, we wish you to be better soon."

* * *

Nighttime, the Pub

"I still can't get over that…" Shino complains, as she gulps down the glass of beer in one go. "I mean, maybe I will beat the bastard up if you allowed me to, but killing him over and over? That's just overkill."

"Same sentiments." Both Tomita and Itami reply in the same time.

"Tough night, isn't it?" Delilah serves the soldiers another set of beer. "So I heard you headed into the Palace right? To warn the Emperor?"

"That was our plan. Not Kuro's." Itami shivers a bit. "No wonder nobody from Gamindustri wants to see him mad."

"Hm? Something happened?" A nearby passenger asks in curiosity.

"The eldest prince… got killed over and over by Kuro… or rather, the people possessing him." Tomita answers, not wanting to say anywhere further than that.

"I think you're exaggerating it." Delilah just chuckles at how pale the soldiers are. "I mean, many people wanted him dead, but…"

"No, we truly mean it." Itami sighs. "Delilah, you're from a group of bunny warriors that got killed by prince Zorzal, right?"

Now that drops the temperature, as Delilah slowly asks with her face darken in second: "Where… did you get that, sir Itami?"

"From the killing spree. The one who made the first kill was a bunny warrior, and she has mentioned about what happened to her homeland. And also I heard from the people from Kuro's place about your story…"

"You can stop there sir." Delilah darkly interrupts. "I don't want to talk about that betrayer…"

"So everyone who's alive thinks of me like that…" The moment the maid hears the voice, she grabs the nearest knife she could reach and plans to raise it up, but a gloved hand grabs her arm and pins it down, stopping her in track. She looks up to see who just did so…

"Sir Kuro?" She's surprised at the sudden appearance of the person… and the outfit as well.

"Stand down. Tyuule didn't do that to save herself. Let her tell her tale before giving out the false conclusion." And that stops every action in the pub, as everyone turns to the main event. While the new customers might not see it, but for those having come to this place often, it's very strange to see the Deity of the Second World being this cold and… calculated, in an unnerving way. And different outfits, at that matter as well.

Seeing that Delilah has, reluctantly, put the knife down, the man releases his grab on her, before saying to the crowd of curiosity: "Sorry for interrupting your enjoyment. I will pay for you all as my apology." And with that, every customer cheers and returns back to their feast. He turns to the owner of the pub: "May I have the girl to talk with us from now?"

Thinking that refusing the order would lead to some troubles, the owner nods fearfully. The man bows thankfully, and turns to the new group, as young Compa scolds: "You don't have to do that, T.O!"

"Sorry, but prevention is better than cure. We don't really like bloodshed." Using his magic, T.O moves the nearby tables and chairs and place them next to Itami's, and gestures everyone to come and sit.

With everyone settling down, with Tyuule and Delilah sitting opposite to each other much to their discomfort, T.O takes the chair at the end of the table and sits down. "Now, miss Delilah. I know you're still upset at Tyuule, however, even she couldn't believe at how Zorzal betrayed her trust like that. Tyuule, let's start the story from your side, after that point."

Tyuule looks down at the table, still feeling guilty about the event. "Can we talk about that in another time?"

"Better be sooner than later." That's T.O's only response.

"*Sigh* Here goes… Delilah, this is what happened…"

Time skip because I'm not creative, sorry. But I think you would have an idea for Tyuule's past already.

"…" Delilah, with her arms on the table, looks down, as her hair covers her face so nobody could tell how she feels right now.

"You can blame me whatever you want." Tyuule is shaking a bit, both from satisfaction that she could let her anger out, and shame because she let the event happen. "But now, to honor our brethren's last wish, I will rebuild everything from ash. Even if I have to fight the Empire myself…"

"Stop." Delilah interrupts, and Tyuule complies. Then, the former raises her hands up and cover her face, and tears start coming out, with her starting to laugh a little. "Damn you… three years have passed… and NOW you just explained everything to us… do you have ANY IDEAS how angered we were… and now you broke it in matter of minutes…" She then stands up and walks away. "I need some time to think of this."

"Wait, let me…" A very quiet finger snap catches her attention, and she turns to see T.O shaking his head lightly.

"Leave her be. That's enough to make her consider her choices now." His voice calms the girl down, and yet unnerves her at the coldness.

"So… you're T.O, right?" Itami changes the subject. "You were the one helping with the Ministry of Defense back then?"

"Yes." T.O answers. "To be honest, your Ministry did a fantastic job. I was just there to make sure everyone would get out… unscratched. Except Rory who could heal herself, and Kuro who's already dead."

Tomita: "But how could people differ you two? I mean, aside from your clothes…"

"T.O is a calmer version of Kuro." Compa explains. "Their outfit is one thing, and T.O doesn't have any rings on his fingers."

Shino questions the choice of outfit: "That looks too hot though. Why don't you put something away, like that thick scarf?"

"I don't actually feel the temperature." T.O says. "Kuro could turn off his nerve system. That's why both of us could wear our outfit everywhere, and won't feel the change even if we walk into the hazard environment."

"Well isn't that convenient?" Rory says, then points her finger towards a person sitting next to T.O. "When did she get here?"

"When Tyuule was talking about her past. I told her to wait." T.O then turns to her. "You can introduce yourself now, and state your business."

* * *

**Chapter 9 end!**

**Not much actions in this one. Though, the next one might be the direct conflict with another Apostle.**

**Do you think that Itami's group should join 'that' fight? Let me know.**

**I think that's enough for now. See you in the future!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 is out! Huge delay, sorry for the waiting. Nothing much to say, so let's get on the story immediately!**

* * *

"My name is Yao Haa Dushi." The newcomer, who's a Dark Elf girl, introduces herself. "I have a request for the 'People in Green'."

"A Dark Elf, so far from their homeland. It must be something urgent." Hodor comments, taking a sip from his beer cup.

"It is. I'm a bit surprised I would see another survivors from the Flame Dragon." Yao says, not expecting that she could find her brethren in a place like this.

"Flame Dragon?" Tuka asks back in surprise. "You mean you fought it once?"

"And lost, horribly." Yao grits her teeth in anger. "We have no power against that thing, and we lost over 200 elves several months ago. After hiding for the next month, we caught the rumors of the 'People in Green' and 'The Land of Gods'. However, we didn't think the Gods would be bothered by this matter, so we tried to talk with the former first. And that's why I am here."

"And may I ask what the rumors are?" Itami asks politely, not wanting to hear bad ones.

"The 'People in Green' has blown the Dragon's arm away, with that 'Rod of Steel', and saved a human village on the run away from the Dragon. With the damage on the Dragon, we believe that you're our last hope, aside from 'The Land of Gods'."

"That's understandable." Tomita replies. "However… it's pure luck that we could get it out of the way. Our weapon just happened to find its weak spot…"

"But that doesn't deny the fact you could defeat it." Yao argues.

"It is." Itami whispers at this part, then he speaks a bit louder: "To kill it, it is another matter. That thing has its own intelligence. It could counter our tactics if we are too slow."

"Also, we can't provide too much force, since it could…" Shino pulls out a map and puts it on the middle of the table. "Miss Yao, can you point at where your people hide now?"

The Dark Elf points at the mountain sign of the map and answers: "Here, around the ground of Tube Mountain."

"…It will be hard…" Itami says. "That place is inside the territory of Elbe Fiefdom. We can't just recklessly go into their ground. It would be a war provocation if we send an army into the land, and you know what will happen next, right?"

"…We haven't thought about that…" Yao replies. Then she slams her hands on the table before asking again: "Please! I would do anything to save my people!"

"That's not the problem here, miss Yao." T.O speaks up, interrupting the Dark Elf as everyone turns to him. "Elves live their life with nature and environment and have their own sets of rules. Humans are the same, and they established territories that the other factions, including their own races, cannot cross over without notices. One small mistake, and wars break out. Like animals, fighting for their own gains." Stopping a bit, he continues: "People in Green have learnt about it, and they all want to deal with any events with minimum efforts. Of course, if they can do it. If they can't, they won't do, until they find a better plan."

"…" Yao can't disagree with it. Her people also don't want to die fighting the Dragon, they want to live. However, they have no power… "So what's left is the Land of Gods…"

"The Gods won't help you." T.O coldly replies, surprising all people around him.

"How could you know it? I haven't even talked to them…" Then she recognizes it: "You are from Rectus Hill? You are one of them?"

"Yes. The Gods there care only to protect their people. They have no intentions to interfere with your own affairs."

"But…but…" Yao stutters, not knowing what to say.

Ignoring it, T.O turns to Compa and says: "Explain the rest. I'm going out now." With that, T.O leaves a bag full of gold coins, stands up and walks into a shadow…

"Hey wait!" Yao rushes out and tries to grab T.O… only to grab midair, as he has disappeared somehow in the dark shadow.

"That's…harsh." Hodor says. "I know it is not Kuro, but imagine if he really says so…"

"Compa, is it true? The other Goddesses won't do a thing?" Tuka pleads. "The girl is desperate, and we do want revenge on that Dragon…"

"I will explain, but we need miss Yao to calm down first." The nurse replies, as Yao returns back to the seat.

"Calm is not the option here." Lelei says, knowing that the Dark Elf can't be calmed down at this point.

"How… I can't return back empty-handed…" Yao slams her head on the table, completely turned down.

"Forgive T.O for this one, miss Yao." The 300-ish woman turns her head to Compa. "He's currently affected by another God's conditions, so he might be harsh a bit now. A few days and he would be nicer."

"Wait, another God, you meant Kuro?"

"Yes, Rory! Their senses sometimes are connected, so their actions could be affected by the other's conditions."

"Back at the matter. If T.O didn't intent to say so…" Tyuule calls back the problem. "But he couldn't possibly lie for no reasons, right?"

"Well… he's still right at one thing. The other Goddesses have to protect their people, and your problem will be your own."

Yao is depressed again. "What's the difference?"

"Because the Flame Dragon made the difference." Now that draws everyone's attention towards the nurse. "If it's just a normal dragon and you can do it on your own, then we won't intervene for sure. However, this Flame Dragon seems to be very bad for all worlds. We will surely help you in this case."

That's enough for the Dark Elf to hear, as she stands up and grabs Compa's hands and shakes it violently. "THANK YOU VERY MUCH! WE'RE IN YOUR DEBT!"

"I know you have a kind heart, miss Compa." Hodor speaks up. "But how are you going to fight the Dragon? We alone can't do much against it."

"Don't worry. I can ask for some of our friends' help. They would gladly offer some assistants."

Then something heavy drops on the table, and everyone turns to Yao to see her putting a huge diamond, uncut, that flashes through the entire table. "Consider this our payment for your help. If it's not enough, I will pay with my body as well."

Now that makes the others gather around the table and admire the price. Then everyone focuses on the nurse for the answer… "Unfortunately, we can't accept either."

Yao widens her eyes in shock. "That's not enough?"

"It's too much." Compa explains.

"Are you sure?" Rory asks. "With a diamond like it, you could pay for many things…"

"It's not money that we concern about." Compa explains. "If it's just a normal job, then yes this is something sufficient for a price. However, the Flame Dragon has claimed too many lives, so it's no longer a job, but a duty to eliminate it. That's why many requests are directly sent to the Goddesses so they could deal with it without pushing the citizens into the dangers."

"A two-way trade." Itami concludes. "It's not about how much to pay, but about what to pay, right?"

"Exactly!" Compa replies.

Yao sighs, both in relief and irritation that the diamond she brought is basically useless. "Then what can we pay?"

"For now, let's focus on the Flame Dragon." Compa says. "Depending on how good we deal with it, will we discuss about the payment later."

"Then I will leave for now." Tyuule stands up. "I need to talk to my people about my own problems."

"Suit yourself, then." Nodding at Hodor's confirmation, the former Queen walks into the back side of the shop.

* * *

"Come in." After asking for the guide to Delilah's room by another worker, Tyuule knocks on the door. Hearing the invitation, the queen opens the door and walks in to see Delilah sitting on her chair while looking at the mirror on the table. Through the reflection of the mirror, the bunny warrior sees who just walked into her room. "What do you want?"

Closing the door, Tyuule answers: "I just want to talk with you… about what happened after I committed such crime."

"…Sit." Tyuule comples and sits on the bed. Delilah then moves her chair so she could face the former queen. "What do you want to know first?"

"How many Bunny Warriors survived after that?"

"All of us have scattered into individuals or small groups of two to three. We can't continue our old ways of living, instead we became servants, mercenaries, or… some other jobs." She doesn't want to say 'slaves' because it would hurt both of them.

"Are there anyone with you?"

"Only a few. Griine is with me here in Alnus Community, taking care of the children. Mamina is working as a maid in Italica, where Griine and I was found there before moving here to work. We haven't seen Parna after she cut off her ears and… ran somewhere in the Empire."

"Then we should find her as fast as possible… You still hate me?"

"After what you said? Maybe… maybe not." Delilah closes her eyes, so Tyuule can't tell if she's saying her feelings or not. "But one thing for sure that we can forgive you for your actions."

"…I hope the others could be the same as you are." Tyuule sighs. "About our future…"

"If you manage to return our kingdom." Delilah opens her eyes again. "Our numbers are very low, and our land is for sure being captured."

"With my current strength, it's impossible." Looking at her hands, Tyuule remembers her lost against a human… a human from the other side of the Gate. "However, I was promised to rebuild myself and our future. I won't waste it…"

"Can we even trust them?" Delilah interrupts. "For all we could see, that God seems to be…"

"I believe in them to keep their words." Tyuule replies. "Currently, they asked me for nothing, aside from 'keep yourself healthy'. I thought it would be just for them to wait and exploit me, but turned out that they always care for people's safety first before anything else."

"…I will believe it for now."

"About trusting them… It's better than trusting Zorzal, don't you agree?"

"If you put it that way… it is, definitely."

"For now… then, when we're strong enough… an alliance should be in place. Or try to claim our independence by some means…"

"… Then, we may be able to pull something off." Delilah concludes. "Right now, our focus should be getting back as many of our brethren as possible. Then, slowly we will reclaim back what was ours."

"Right." A small serene moment passes. "Say, have you set an eye for someone?"

Delilah sends Tyuule glance of cheeriness. "Really, of all questions?"

Tyuule chuckles to herself. "Yeah, I don't know why I asked that. It just came out for some reasons."

Delilah looks up to the ceiling and starts pondering. "Sir Itami is very interesting, but I have all the doubts that I could do anything on him. Many of the People in Green don't fit my taste though…" Then she remembers: "I just remembered. Sir Itami said that Zorzal was killed multiple times, right? Did sir Kuro do that?"

"One of us, one of the elves, a mage, and a Volralden. Then the man himself…" Tyuule shivers.

"Wait, one of us… Itami mentioned that a bunny warrior…"

"One of the fallen… the God allowed the souls to control his body, but took a torn because of it so now he's not going anywhere…"

"That… sounds like a way to gain our trust? If so, then it might work too perfectly."

"Could be… could be not… Hey, how about we return back to the group a bit? They're talking about a plan to take down the Flame Dragon."

"! That one? Both sides are going to fight it?"

"Seems so. Not very sure, since Alnus Army can't bring many troops out… I think they have done with the discussion. Let's go out, shall we?"

* * *

When the two bunnies return to the table, the People in Green and the nurse have left, leaving the people of Falmart behind. The two sits down as Tyuule asks Rory: "Is everything in order?"

"A little." The Apostle replies. "We're going to fight the Flame Dragon as well."

"Wait what? Why?" Delilah is surprised.

"Just wanting some revenges against that thing." Hodor says. "Lost a lot of friends because of it."

"A fine magic practice." Lelei has her own plan.

"The other side will help too." Tuka continues. "Though the plan would have to delay a bit, so Itami could ask if they could deliver some forces to fight."

"Uhm… is Tyuule going to join?" Delilah asks hesitantly, doubting that she could do anything.

"Actually, I will help her rebuilding her shape." Yao says. "Hodor and I, to be exact. In a week or so, will we help you, Tyuule."

"Thanks…" Tyuule replies.

"Though, we did question why the other Deity couldn't fight this one…"

"You mean… the black one in Italica back then?" Delilah asks.

"Yeah. Turned out that he's forbidden to fight it. Since he's basically Emroy of another world, he couldn't directly fight against supreme beings here." Rory explains.

"Turned out Kuro is the only exception to be able to fight here, but he's out for now…" Lelei continues.

"And the Goddesses rely on the faith of people in them, and they would lose all when stepping in Falmart." Hodor finishes. "So now we can't rely on the Deities to help our sides."

"So T.O's words are true somewhat… Still a bit harsh." Tyuule remembers the previous conversation.

"Like the nurse said. For now, I think it's late enough." Rory points her finger towards the sky, where the moon is shining brightly.

* * *

Now I remember something: I never said about the location of Rectus Hill (Which I made it up obviously). So, I will place it at the left of Alnus Hill, and slightly in the middle between Alnus Hill and Schwarz Forest. You can check the map on Wiki. That did explain how Kuro found out about the second Gate when his scouts went to Koan Forest.

* * *

One week later

"So… only two of you?" Rory questions the choice of 'help' from the second Gate.

The group from Alnus has arrived at a rendezvous point, assigned by Schwarz three days ago. The group consists of Itami, Lelei, Rory, Tuka, Hodor, Yao and Tyuule. Lelei and Hodor are both learnt quick enough to ride another T.H.M.V, so they can bring more weapons with them. Most of them are a few rocket launchers of all kinds with their warheads, mines, C4 and more types of explosions, considering infantry bullets are nearly useless against the Dragon's armor. And they're expecting the same from the other side…

Instead, only a duo is waiting there, with a dangerous-looking motorcycle. One being Schwarz, while the other is like a second Rory without her halberd and having yellow hair. Though, knowing the place they're from, the group is NOT going to assume anything.

"Yeah. The others are dealing with their own problems right now." Schwarz replies before revving the motorbike, ready to run along with the vehicles.

"I just happened to have free time." The girl just replies simply.

"Are you sure it's okay?" Tuka is thinking about the 'help' being a little…

"Yep. They're ready." Itami suddenly says. And with that, Schwarz goes ahead first, followed by Itami and Hodor's vehicles…

"Isn't that… the girl in the card?" Hodor talks to Itami through the radio.

"Yeah. I think she could give us a LOT of help on her own."

"Don't tell me she's another immortal?" Rory asks from Itami's vehicle.

"Yeah. But, she's still younger than you… at least, if time hasn't flown further than I thought."

"Strength?" Lelei, from same vehicle.

"Uh… I'm… not very sure. I know how powerful she is, but to compare here?"

"How many powerful beings are from that side?" Tyuule asks in wonder.

"And their appearance… none of them look like they even reach…" Yao immediately stops when she sees Rory's glare from another vehicle. "My apology."

"Anyway, let's get to the place first."

Time skip

"That… pocket dimension…" Itami says to himself. "If I have one, I could have stored everything inside."

Now you know why they 'seemed' to bring nothing with them.

"Don't complain. Father won't give out that technology to Earth anytime soon." Schwarz chuckles. He then looks down at the valley below their feet. "It's not going to be fun falling down here."

"Don't be like those idiots." The immortal girl comments. "Luckily they grew up, but sometimes…"

"Wait here, everyone. I will inform my people about your arrival." Yao says, planning to walk away.

"Yeah, no. I don't think so." Hodor suddenly stops her. "If I'm you, I would place scouts all over the place. And one sudden arrival could cause…" Footsteps can be heard from a way above them, and when they look up, a squad of dark elves is pointing their arrows at them. "And I'm correct."

"Halt! Who are you? What are you…" The squad leader starts the questions, but stops himself midway when he sees Yao. "Yao Haa Dushi? You returned already?"

"Yes. I have brought helps back. Lower your weapons." Yao shouts back, and every elf starts doing so…

Then the immortal girl suddenly jumps up high, and then kicks the Flame Dragon's mouth before it could bite down one of the elves. Landing down to the ground nearby, the Dragon roars at the girl, then uses its remaining arm to swing at her, slamming her out. Though, that only staggers her a bit as she lands on the mountain slide, unharmed.

With that, everyone breaks out and rushes into actions. The elves (and Yao who draws her own bow out as well) start releasing the arrows towards the Dragon's face, while Hodor, Tuka and Lelei start channeling their protecting/attacking spells. Itami and Tyuule have run back to the vehicles and start preparing the rocket launchers. Schwarz draws out his Barrett M99 and aims it right at Flame Dragon's wings and pulls the trigger, however, the shots are just only able to stop the wings from hitting the elves. Rory enters the fight with her halberd aiming at its face and manages to hit it, sending it a few meters away.

Angered, the Flame Dragon breathes its deadly fire towards Rory, but the stream is frozen midair by the recovered immortal girl. Taking the chance, Rory steps on the frozen fire and jumps up high then slams her halberd down, hitting its left eye socket, making it scream in pain due to the arrow sinking in deeper. The beast recovers quickly and manages to dodge a hit from Lelei's spell, but it then gets hit by a dropkick to the head from the immortal girl. At one small moment, it notices the two LAMs Itami and Tyuule are pointing at it, and the memories of its lost arm return. Immediately it flies up to dodge both shots from the ground, which collide with the mountain and explode, causing no damage to the dragon. Not wanting to deal with them for now, the dragon flies away.

"That thing is persistent!" Rory kicks the rock away after seeing the dragon fly away.

"Even a .50 cal bullets can't do anything against it…" Schwarz says while hanging the gun on his shoulder. "Those things are tough like the damn Ancient Dragons… guess I'm not using regular bullets next time."

"Not very tough if you know where to hit it." The immortal girl floats down. She then sees the damage of the spell that Lelei casted. "Not bad. You could be a Magi if you practice enough."

"A Magi?" Lelei catches on the sentence.

"Ah, it's nothing."

"We should leave now, before the dragon returns." Yao calls everyone, as she leads them to the nearby safe location.

…

Nighttime

"Not bad, but not good." Eva complains a bit about the food.

"Don't say that. That's all they could acquire around here." Schwarz scolds lightly.

Currently, the two are going ahead first to observe the nest. They just reach the ground where the weapons of the fallen lie within.

"Never thought you would agree to this, Eva… should I say Aunt Eva now?"

"Don't channel those bastards." The girl sends a heat glare towards Schwarz. "It's good that they're on the plain view now, but their jokes are not."

"Just chilling here." Schwarz replies, chuckles at the blush on her face. "Although, it's nice of you paying visit for him."

The blush goes a little deeper in color. "So what? He's my friend."

"Yeah, 'just friend'." Schwarz immediately jumps to the side to avoid a spear of ice to the body. Ignoring the 'smoke' coming from her ears, he looks up to see the crater. "That's one escape plan for the dragon…" Disappearing into his shadow and reappearing from the dark spots of the wall inside the mountain, he starts planning laser weapons so he could stop the thing from flying through, effectively trapping it inside. Though, the activation is only when it's fully inside, or its wings are on the right position. Returning back, Schwarz sees Eva pressing the same card Kuro held before on her forehead. "Trying to call Father?"

"Seems to not be possible now." Eva pockets the card, the redness has subdued. "How often did this happen? During these years?"

"Aside from occasionally seeing him hanging in his room, nothing serious. Powerful, but not too overpowered."

"Try to make someone believe that when they saw him blasting a magic-nullified canyon with magic."

"Fair point. Let's return and tell Itami what we found."

…

"We have enough C4 to blow the nest up and cover up one entrance at max." Itami summaries as the males are preparing the equipment. "But, with it being cautious at our LAMs, it's not going to be easy."

"The problem is to hold it down." Hodor says. "Even if we could lock it into the nest, no doubts that it will struggle to try to destroy the explosives."

"And there could be more, if Lelei's explanation is correct." Schwarz reminds the conversation with the Dark Elves. "Even if her story is correct, there's no reasons to exclude the low possibilities."

"Then why did you tell us not to involve?" The girls are sitting around them, as Yao asks. "We could help you a lot."

"I do not doubt your abilities." Schwarz replies. "However, the presence of Death surrounding your people is too great. My father would never risk anyone's life but his, and I am the same."

Rory: "What about back-up plans? Do you have one?"

Itami: "To be fair, fighting against a Flame Dragon? One, we live. Two, we die. I don't think there's anything in between." He then remembers one thing: "Schwarz, would you…"

"I have to pull that off, for sure. My weapons are particularly useless."

Every girl except Eva: "Pull what off?"

Schwarz: "You will know soon…"

* * *

Days later

"Charges set!" Schwarz announces.

"Hodor! How are the spells so far?"

"Good enough, Itami. At least we won't be burnt alive."

Everyone is preparing for the ambush. The charges of C4 are placed right at the middle of the nest, with remote detonator ready. The elves are applying protection spells on everybody so they won't be melted by the flame. Rory and Eva are watching from the outside to make sure that they could warn the inside if the dragon returns. After putting down the charges, Schwarz walks to where Tyuule prepares the LAMs and helps her setting up the weapons. Lelei is creating some subtle spells, thanks to her training with Schwarz, in case if she doesn't have enough time to cast the spells.

Meanwhile, from the outside, the immortals are observing the sky to see if the dragon is around. During that, Rory asks: "Having seen much in your life, what made the change of heart?"

"A bunch of idiots that didn't give up in changing others' thoughts. The same bunch who dared to charge towards people who are league stronger than them, yet somehow defeated those people while being themselves… hell, they have somehow invited me into the group as well." Eva chuckles at the memories.

"Sounds like you have some fun…" Rory remembers about her joy travelling around the world in hundreds of years. "What about Kuro? You seem to have held some thoughts on him…"

"…He… was one of the few who managed to open my heart…" Eva pulls out the Pactio card again and looks at it. "That idiot always made sure nobody would be unhappy, which is an impossible task in my eyes. He admitted it himself, and yet he still did that… proof is that now he's under coma for who knows how long."

"… Love, huh?" Rory connects the dots.

"Yes…" Eva then notices Rory's eyes looking to general directions. She understands: "You are the same?"

"Kinda. Damn Hardy trying to get me, but I didn't find her fit my taste at all!" Rory slams one end of the halberd to the ground in the last words. "Seriously, can't she even take a hint?"

"Hint… you and Itami huh?" During the travel, she notices how the girls, the 'small' ones, being a little too close to the Japanese soldier. "Lelei seems to be in the same page as yours."

"Don't mind much, really."

"Chick magnets, all of them…" Eva chuckles… and turns serious when she sees something afar. "Hide."

Alerted, Rory follows Eva to a dark spot where they won't be detected by the Dragon. The Apostle then taps into her earpiece and tries to call Itami: "Hey, Itami. The Dragon is heading in." However, even when the Dragon is closer, the radio is still static. "HEY, ITAMI! LELEI! ANSWER ME!"

"It's no use. The volcano must have blocked the signal." Eva says.

"Then we should head in now. They will die…"

"Schwarz won't let that happen. Besides…" Eva looks at one direction, where she feels the presences of unknown. "We have our own problems here."

…

"!" Noticing the sudden heat in the air, Schwarz calls out to the others through telepathy: 'Everyone, hide!' And he has connected everyone's mind for better conversation.

Each grabbing two LAMs, Itami, Schwarz and Tyuule hide in a dark corner, while the others do the same. Once everyone's in position, Schwarz uses the shadow and starts sending the LAMs to the others, so everyone could use them against the Dragon. After that, he peeks out a bit just to see the Dragon floating down to the nest. He notices the beast starting to circle around the middle, not immediately laying down. 'Damn, it must have noticed the change…'

'I have a clear shot.' Hodor prepares the LAM. 'Should I go for it?'

'Wait a bit.' Itami orders, as he moves to another rock, out of the Dragon's sight. 'Tyuule, move.'

Holding the LAM in her hands, the bunny runs to a location behind the dragon. Counting North as 12: she's at 6, Schwarz 9, Itami 8, Hodor and Tuka 4, Lelei and Yao 1. The Dragon looks at where Tyuule is hiding, but it couldn't see her because of the huge boulder, so it scans around towards the East…

Leaving the back of its head vulnerable to Schwarz's shot. The warhead collides and explodes, knocking some air out of the Dragon. The Dragon turns to where he is to see the scythe-wielding demon, however, before it could do anything aside from roaring, another shot coming from Tyuule as she dashes to Hodor's location to make sure she's not in the Dragon's sight.

That little distraction gives Schwarz enough time to run towards the Dragon and jump on its back. Feeling a new weight on its back, the beast tries to reach its remaining arm towards it back and tries to grab the demon. Though, the demon has jumped at where its arm can't reach, and he pinches the blade of the scythe on its back and holds on it, causing it to roar in pain. Changing the scythe's location slightly, he manages to somewhat control where the dragon could walk to. Enraged, the dragon tries to fly up, however, it notices some sorts of red light covering the top of the crater, blocking its way out. And to make sure it won't fly, Schwarz steps on the scythe to make sure the blade sink further, so that the wings' muscles are severed, forcing the dragon to drop on the ground.

With that, everyone draws out the LAMs and shoots the dragon with everything, destroying its wings in the process. Not going down without a fight, the Dragon starts breathing fire out of its mouth, trying to burn everyone out. Thankfully, the spell is for this reason, so aside from being heated up, no one is getting their skins burnt alive.

Dropping the LAMs, the mages start releasing their offensive spells, striking the dragon with explosion and thunder. The dragon swings its tail around, hitting the boulders and sending them towards the group. With that, they temporarily stop the attacks and start dodging, while Tyuule returns fire with another LAM. Schwarz pulls the scythe out and runs to its head, then slams the scythe right at its lost eye socket and pulls its head down right to the ground, then drags it right at the middle of the nest where all the charges of C4 are. The dragon struggles to get out to no success.

And once it's in the right position, and after the order to retreat from Schwarz, Itami activates the detonator, causing the charges to explode right under the dragon's body, turning it into minces. Schwarz is knocked out of his feet due to the impact. He immediately feels the ground start cracking down, so he stands up and runs straight to the exit, however, the falling is quicker than he thought, and he loses his feet on a falling rock and starts descending down to the darkness…

His fall stops when someone grabs his arm. He looks up to see his sister, in her CPU form, hovering in the air. She lets out a little giggle and says: "Now you see why we are two sides of the same coin."

Seeing who's talking to him, the demon lets out a chuckle. "Yeah, I know." He then looks down a bit to see some magma reactions. "Talk later. I don't like getting suffocated in here."

* * *

"Everyone okay?" Itami shouts out, after everyone has got out of the exit. He saw someone helping Schwarz out of the hole, and they followed the rest out quickly.

"We're okay." Hodor replies. "A small scratches from the rock, but all right."

"So that's how powerful a Flame Dragon is." Tyuule says after regaining her breath. "That's an experience I don't want to feel again." She then sees Schwarz and Weiss (both still transformed) and asks: "Mister Schwarz, who is that?"

The half-CPU bows and introduces herself: "My name is Weiss, and I'm Schwarz's step-sister. Nice to meet you."

Itami then notices Rory and Eva are not around, so he shouts: "Rory! Eva! Where are you?"

Just at that moment, the two girls fly straight to the ground in the middle of the group, open wounds on their bodies spilling blood. Though Eva's in a little better condition that she manages to stand up first. "Damn, and I thought this is an easy fight."

"Worrying about the human. You have really grown weak." The group looks up to see a woman with dragon wings, being escorted behind by two dragons. "It's time we leave this place."

"I'm not finished with you." Eva stands between the woman and Rory. "And didn't she tell you that she won't come with you?"

"An outcast immortal like you shouldn't interfere with our business." The woman replies back.

"Oh, but I insist." Letting out a sadistic smile, Eva gathers power in her left hand. "While I might not be as strong as him, I am sure as hell could take you down if I really try."

"Hey, leave Giselle alive." Eva turns back to see Rory in Itami's arms, her wounds are starting to heal up. "She's just a messenger. I need her to tell Hardy that I'm not going to be her bride."

"Well, she's immortal like you, and I don't have weapons to kill one." Darkness starts gathering in her palm. "Doesn't mean I can't have some fun, torturing her."

"Well, mostly I would let you do so…" Suddenly Schwarz grabs Eva and starts pulling her back. "But, I'm not liking to become barbeque now."

"HEY! I'm not done here!" Eva starts throwing her arms around, clearly not agreeing with this plan of his.

"That demon made the right choice, girl." The other Apostle says, not noticing something heading right to her location. "Now, give me Rory, and I will leave."

"We're not planning to run, miss Apostle." Weiss raises her fingers up and makes a 'Neptune victory' sign. "We prefer not to be caught in friendly fire."

"What's that?" The Apostle asks in confusion. "What are you talking…"

Schwarz immediately covers everyone with his shadow, and the inside gets dark for a second before Weiss shines up with her aura. Then, the whole group hears the sounds of explosions surrounding them. "Yeah… I don't remember calling air strikes. Weiss, are you behind this?"

"It's more like both sides are concerned of what you are doing. Also, a little warning from father."

Eva immediately uses her card to try to call Kuro, and ends up with nothing. "…You mean T.O, don't you?"

"Calling either of them 'father' is not entirely wrong, Eva. You should know that now." That earns Weiss a facepalm from the vampire. "Though, those are only from JSDF. I didn't call anyone from our side."

"You should. Wasting our weapons is better than JSDF doing so." Schwarz sighs, turning back to his human form. "Itami, can you call for anyone outside?"

"Let me check…" Changing the signal, Itami tries to call out. "This is Lieutenant Itami from Third Recon. Can anyone hear me?"

"This is Kurihama. Glad to hear you man." One of the pilots laughs on the radio. "Hope you are not in the firing zone."

"Technically… we are. Do you see a shadow below?" Itami chuckles nervously.

"Eh… yeah, we do now." Taking a second round, the pilot now sees what the soldier is talking about. "Are you okay?"

"When you cease fire, give me a call, okay?" Itami responds. "We're lucky enough to have the help from other side."

"Well then, hold on. The dragons are not dead yet… by the way, I thought there's only one?"

"Those two are the new ones. I will explain later."

…

"She ran away." Eva says, as she notices the Apostle sneaking away. "Have to admit, that girl has good raw power. She still needs to work on that though if she wants to beat that brute idiot."

"Rakan?" Schwarz earns a nod. "I doubt even Gods here could beat him." He then notices the head of the mature Flame Dragon being carried away by a carrier-type helicopter. "That could give out a warning to the Empire."

"Is this how the other worlds fight?" Tyuule wanders her eyes around the burnt ground of the battlefield. "No wonder the Empire failed to do anything to you…"

"Japan did suffer because of being surprised, though." Weiss replies. "Gamindustri managed to not suffer casualties because the Gate opened in Research Land, otherwise it would be ugly…"

"We're all in debt for your help." Yao kneels down, showing her gratefulness to the group. "We can't pay you enough for what you have done for us. We will follow you forever."

Itami scratches his hair and says: "I don't know about that…"

"Actually, you can help us for one thing." Weiss gains everyone's attention. "Yao, can you help Tyuule regaining her shape? Years of being slave dampens her strength."

"Oh, of course! I will do anything I could!" The dark elf responds immediately.

"T.O's plan?" Schwarz asks his sister.

"Yep."

Then Itami's radio picks up signal again. "Hey Avenger. Need some ride back to the base?"

"Well, if there's some ways to bring back the jeeps."

"We got what we need. Even the cars as well."

"…Yeah. We would like one, please." Turning off the radio, Itami announces: "Everyone, let's return back to Alnus and, well, celebrate our victory."

* * *

**Chapter 10 end!**

**Yeah, friendly fire is on, so the direct fight against the Apostle is interrupted. Though, the fight with the mature Flame Dragon is okay enough.**

**Also, Eva and Rakan are from Negima, if you're wondering.**

**Kuro is still in coma, and there is nothing to say that he's going to wake up soon.**

**See you all in the next chapters!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for the two months delaying guys, again. Let's get to the main story immediately!**

* * *

Location: Research Land. Main Tower. Meeting room.

"So the peace negotiation meeting will be held about three days from now?" Histoire asks Schwarz.

"Seems so. We can't wait for Father to awake to deal with this. That's why I'm going with you two."

IF: "It's not that I'm worried about you, but are you sure you're able to do this? You're not exactly the type of being used to diplomatic matters, like your father."

Schwarz: "That, or let Histoire and Arfoire go by themselves. You know how I am when it's related to safety."

Weiss: "Then I should go as well. It's better to be prepared."

Brave: "Then it's settled. Our 'ambassador' group will consist of both Oracles of Research Land, Schwarz and Weiss, me and Steamax. I will go inform him later on."

Arfoire then starts showing the profiles of the Empire's Royalists: "Let us take a quick check on their powers. The first one is the Emperor, Molt Sol Augustus. A ruthless leader, but he does know what to do with his power in hand. If we show him that we're on the same power level, we could create a good business relationship with him."

Schwarz nods. "Hate to admit, but he's a very good emperor, in controlling his citizens at least. A good tactician as well."

Histoire then moves to the next one. "The Crown Prince, Zorzal El Caesar. To put it very lightly, he's a not-so-smart version of his father."

"Racist bastard as well." Schwarz grunts. "Remember what Tyuule has told us about her tribe being destroyed?"

Brave: "I heard of it just recently. I sympathize with her lost."

Weiss: "We all do. Anyway, we're not going to be friends with him, that's for sure."

IF: "Enemy, even." Moving to the next image. "The Second Prince, Diabo El Caesar… Actually he seems to be not very bad. Just kinda overthinking too much."

"As long as he could be negotiated with, then we're okay."

"He could be one of the next Emperor." Everyone looks at the door to see Tyuule quietly closing it after she goes in. "Sorry. I heard that you're discussing about the negotiation, so…"

Schwarz waves it off. "Don't worry about it. Actually, can you tell more about these ones?"

"I don't think I could tell you anything, given that you seem to gather more than I know." Tyuule looks at the screen with details of the people.

Brave: "How about your opinion then? Something good from them?"

Taking a seat next to Weiss, Tyuule looks back at the screen then says: "Hmm… Honestly, I would give the Emperor and Second Prince some props. Unlike that bastard, they could think for the others."

Weiss: "What about Princess Pina Co Lada?"

"… I didn't interact with her so much before, but she could also follow the Emperor's footsteps, with a brighter future actually."

Arfoire: "So we could at least talk with them then."

Schwarz then notices Shanghai laying herself on IF's head, as he asks: "Uhm… Mom? Did you put her onto your head?"

She shakes her head. "She just did so, but she didn't bother me so I don't mind."

"…Mom. She's sleeping." True enough, the doll is closing her eyes while making cute snore noise.

"So? I mean, she…" IF plans to say something, but then quickly closes her mouth. Everyone except Tyuule also sees the problem: Shanghai couldn't show any emotions or do anything that could make herself cuter than she already is…

Unless a certain someone is controlling her.

They immediately trace a very thin string of magic, that they just noticed just now, back to where it comes from… and they find that certain person sitting comfortably in a chair with his legs crossed, and a cup of hot chocolate in his right hand. He raises his cup up when everyone widens their eyes in shock after seeing him awake. "Good morning to you all. Hope I didn't give you any troubles after these days."

"KURO! / FATHER!" Everyone stands straight up and shots at the same time. They didn't think that he could have woken up at this unexpected time.

Not surprised by their actions, Kuro takes a sip from the cup, before saying: "My apology for disturbing the meeting. Please continue."

"Like hell we could do so!" IF shouts, before quickly rushes to him. "When did you wake up?"

"Half an hour ago." He plans to say more, but a death grip around his neck from his wife, which is a loving hug to him, stops him from saying anything teasingly to her. "Sorry for worrying you all too much."

"You should be. Your family has been calling us constantly for your conditions." IF then releases her grip and then knocks him on the head with her knuckle. "This is just the beginning. Prepare to face worse."

"I know." Kuro then turns to Tyuule and asks: "So, it might be abrupt, but would you like to go with them? I mean, you did need to shout in that prince's face for what he has done to you."

"… I wouldn't do so. It would cause damage to your negotiation." Tyuule shakes her head. "But, I think it would be a better revenge if I could rebuild my place back, maybe even better."

"It's your choice."

Histoire then asks: "If you're already awake, then you would go…"

"Not this time." Earning looks of disbelief, Kuro explains: "At least, I'm not going to directly show myself from the beginning. Shanghai will go with you instead, and I will observe from her eyes. Currently, nobody knows that I'm awake, except our own people since I will announce myself through my private website…"

"You have no private websites." Arfoire doubts it.

"It is to the other Falmartians." Kuro chuckles. "Also, I'm not actually at my full self. If to compare, my power's around when I first obtained Share from Planeptune."

"Then you're still good enough." IF comments.

Weiss: "By the way, father. JSDF is asking to have a small meeting before we head to the Empire's Capital. Could you at least join that?"

"… Like I said, I won't show my face directly. So no."

"Then…" Histoire then looks at Tyuule. "Maybe you can help Tyuule with her training."

The former queen widens her eyes in surprise. "It…It's really no need to bother such an important person…"

"Why not?" The bunny nearly snaps her neck when she turns back to Kuro. "I did need to regain my shape. A long time being stationed in bed is not fun."

"… Thank you." Tyuule bows lightly, showing her respect.

"You are awake!" Somehow, the granddaughter already detects him being woken up, so she immediately opens a portal and drops every, single, CPU, into it and right on top of Kuro.

And of course, that creates a hilarious, chibi-style scene, as Kuro's being crushed under a group of girls. Tyuule looks at the scene in surprise, and even more surprised when she sees the others' face: they're just sighing, with Brave joining in as well. "Is…is this normal?"

"Yes… unfortunately." IF shakes her head, disapprovingly at her grandkid's action. "Clem, he's just recovered."

"I'm too excited to see him!" That's her response, as she's sitting on top of the human… goddesses' pile of bodies. "It's not fun without him around!" To add to that matter, Shanghai floats above her and starts hitting her head with a paper fan. "See?"

"You shouldn't have done that." Emerald grunts, as everyone slowly stands up and gets out of Kuro. She turns and apologizes the person lying on the floor: "We're sorry."

"It's not your fault, don't worry." He then chuckles. "Not gonna lie, I kinda miss it."

"Only you would think so." IF shakes her head with a smile on her face. "Now, let us start the work you have left off, shall we?"

* * *

Three days later

Location: Southern Palace Garden.

Time: Sundown.

"I'm not really used to stand out…" Steamax mumbles, as he looks at the sleeves of his suit. "At least lady Uni said that it looks good on me…"

"Don't sell yourself short. You have potentials." Schwarz fixes his bow on the neck. "Anyone that's better-looking than my father is definitely handsome for sure." For that matter, Shanghai hits him on the head while pouting. "It's true and you know it."

"Cut it off." Brave shakes his head in amusement. "This is an important event, so you two better be more serious."

"I know, I know…" Schwarz dismisses it.

"Of course." Steamax takes it to heart though.

At the other part of the room, Histoire and Arfoire are talking with Reiko Shirayuri alongside Kouji Sugawara while sitting down on long benches.

"Not seeing Kuro himself attending this party is a surprise." The Prime Minister is not expecting the event. "But, if what you're saying is right, then please give my best wish to him."

"You have our words." Histoire promises.

Kouji changes the subject: "May I ask if Brave and Steamax are full robots, or those are just armor suits?"

Arfoire: "They are the formers. We could ask Brave freely, but Steamax… we have to bribe his leader a little bit to allow him to go."

Reiko asks curiously: "Even you have to bribe a person? How much did it cost?"

"Don't be surprised when we give you the answer." Histoire warns first. After earning nods from both Japanese, she answers: "Pictures of the Knights of Rose-Order."

The Ambassadors from Japan nod once, and wait… and they're taken back that Histoire is already done. Even Sugawara has to drop his serious face by asking: "Wait, that's it? That's all it takes to ask someone from Gamindustri?"

Arfoire giggles when she sees their faces. "Only he and Steamax would agree on that… come to think of it, maybe Anonydeath would be on the same level."

Reiko rubs her left temple in mild confusion. "I know my daughter watches a lot of anime and there are 'questionable' situations in them, but to hear it in real life is… absurd."

"That's our world to you." The four turn to look at Weiss in a long white dress, holding a smiling Sherry Tyueli in her arms. "And mister Sugawara, seems like you have a little admirer here." She continues with a teasing tone and a small grin.

That makes the only male in the current group visibly flinch. "How much did she tell you?"

"Enough." Weiss simply answers, then giggles at Sugawara who's starting to break a sweat. It's followed by the Oracles and the young noble girl as well.

Reiko gives her subordinate a look of disappointment. "Please don't do anything that would make us all regret."

"Of course not!" Sugawara immediately replies, not waiting any moments for anyone else to comment on that. He then changes the subject while fixing his tie: "Madams, this is Sherry Tyueli, the daughter of the Head of Tyueli family who's supporting the Pro-Peace fraction."

"I see." Reiko nods. She then greets the young girl: "Hello young lady. My name is Reiko Shirayuri, it's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you as well." The young girl stands up and lightly bows. Then, she asks Weiss: "Miss Weiss, can we visit your world later on?"

"Of course, as long as you behave well." Weiss smiles and replies.

"So you're all here." Colt Formal walks towards the group with a glass of wine in his hand. "I was expecting to see sir Kuro here. Did something happen to him?"

Histoire nods. "Have you heard what happened to the Crown Prince?"

"Yeah. The story spread out like wildfire."

"After that, Kuro's basically out of his mind and couldn't go anywhere. He's currently recovered, but he's not at his fullest, so he took time staying back."

"Ah, what a shame." Taking a sip from his glass, he then bows to the Japanese and gives Reiko a shaking hand. "Ah, forgive my rudeness for not introducing myself. I'm Colt Formal, the Head of Formal Clan in Italica."

Reiko stands up and returns the gesture. "Nice to meet you here."

After that, the group chats for a while longer while waiting for the main event to happen.

…

Location: Audience Chamber

Nighttime.

"HIS MAJESTY, EMPEROR MOLT, HIS HIGNESS CROWN PRINCE ZORZAL, AND HER HIGHNESS PRINCESS PINA HAVE ARRIVED!" Everyone immediately separates and gives a way for the trio to walk into the massive room, with the Emperor's 'subjects' clapping their hands to welcome his arrival.

Steamax and Brave eye the males with full caution, as the latter whispers to the former: "The one Kuro has killed before is the younger one. The front is who we're trying to negotiate with."

"Not even general Affimojas would degrade himself into his level." Steamax whispers back.

Then, the crown prince starts a small commotion, delaying the ceremony a bit. However, the Emperor lets it go and keeps walking forward. That causes Schwarz's eyes to twitch in annoyance. "That bastard hasn't learnt his lesson?"

"I haven't gone all out that time." Shanghai whispers. "If I want to do so, I might have asked Hardy to 'borrow' some of the more vicious souls to deal the damage."

Once the order's out of the way, everyone returns to their own conversation. Molt then walks towards the Ambassadors of Japan and Gamindustri and greets them while saying: "At last, we can hold a peace conference with your countries."

Reiko nods and replies: "Yes, Your Majesty. We hope to quickly establish peace."

Arfoire follows: "And after that, maybe we can start a healthy business with each other."

Molt laughs. "Of course, of course!" He then notices that a certain someone is missing. "Say, what happened to, uhm… you know…"

Histoire: "He's currently resting, Your Majesty. After that… event, he's been in bed till now."

"I see. Please give my best wish to him later, then."

After an amount of time, filled with chatters and laughs, the head of the Flame Dragon is being brought into the audience chamber, earning shock and awe looks from everyone. The Emperor walks towards the head as the soldiers lower it down to the floor. After checking the head being real, Molt turns back to his 'subjects' and shouts proudly: "My citizens, feast your eyes upon this miracle! The Flame Dragon that has long tormented us is now but a corpse! We will no longer live in fear! This is the gift to us from the gods! Let us celebrate this good news!"

As everyone from Falmart cheers up, the ones who know the truth decide to hold their voice back. Let the people in this land enjoy this little peace for a while.

Then, one of the Senators asks the Emperor: "Pardon me, Your Majesty, but who could have accomplished this?"

"I will tell you later once I know the truth. There are rumors flying around, but that's just that." Molt calmly replies back.

He then gets back to his throne, and Pina with Shandy walk towards him. Pina opens the conversation first: "Your Majesty, miss Shandy here has found out who has defeated the Flame Dragon."

Molt nods, a little satisfied that he doesn't have to take time to find those people. "Very well. Miss, tell me what you know."

"Yes!" The girl bows once before she continues: "The ones who have slayed the Dragon are: Schwarz, Rory, Itami, Lelei, Hodor, Tuka, and Yao."

…

"Why wasn't miss Eva being mentioned?" Brave whispers into Schwarz's ears.

"Because miss Shandy didn't actually see her."

…

"That's a very long list of names." Molt comments. "The first two names, Schwarz and Rory…"

"The latter one is Rory Mercury, the Apostle of Emroy." Pina explains. "The other… *whisper* he's the Green Demon on that day."

"…I see." Molt takes a quick glance towards the Ambassadors of Gamindustri, then returns to the duo. "Then that means the glory goes to the gods, and the Men in Green has nothing to do with it."

"No." Shandy denies. "The one who led the group, Itami, is a Man in Green."

"… So another enemy is involved. Who are the others?" Molt is not exactly pleased with that piece of information.

"Hodor and Tuka are elves from Koan Forest. Yao is a dark elf from Schwarz Forest…"

"Non-human…"

"Lelei is the disciple of Sage Kato and a resident of Coda Village."

Hearing that is like music to the Emperor. "Disciple of Sage Kato? Is she a human?"

Shandy nods. "Yes, she is. She also lived in Coda Village, so you could say that she's also an Imperial citizen!"

"That's grand news! Pina, I would like you to find this Lelei and invite her to the capital. I want to reward her. And it's an order. Understood?"

"Yes!" Pina answers without a second thought.

…

"He's pleased that one of his citizens was in the battle." Sugawara comments, which earns a nod from Reiko.

"That would be true for anywhere. Japan would be no different."

They then see Molt raising his cup up after his announcement of the great news. "Everyone! Let us celebrate of this good news!"

The Ambassadors of Japan plan to follow the others, but they feel someone grabbing their shoulders, so they turn back to see Steamax. "Sir Sugawara and Madam Shirayuri, the party is over."

"Over? What do you mean?" Reiko is confused. How could a party like this be over already?

"Right now, slowly step back…" Right now, everyone's too focused on the Emperor that Steamax manages to pull the two towards the others without raising suspicions.

"What's going on?" Sugawara asks in confusion.

And his answer: A scream from nearly everyone around them, as the Ambassadors of Japan look around and now see the Emperor of Falmart falling to the floor, his body twitching now and then. While startled for a second, the two immediately recognize the scene: The Emperor is poisoned, by something inside his cup of wine.

Pina starts screaming and runs to her father, trying to wake him up. The soldiers are also rushing towards them and forming a circle around them, not letting anyone else reach the Emperor.

"…Who could have done so?" Sugawara asks again, this time wanting to know the culprit.

Weiss whispers: "My father knows. However, we need to leave this place first before we could tell you."

The Senators then start shouting and ordering everyone to get out, so all Ambassadors quickly leave the room before they could be questioned.

When they're far enough, Sugawara asks again: "Okay, can you tell me now?"

Schwarz looks around to check if anyone's nearby, then says: "It's the former queen of the bunny tribe. However, the plan has been set even before she's rescued. The one delivering this assassination is Haryo, an organization resembling Mafia of sort. This must be because this group couldn't contact her anymore, so they just did it as planned."

Reiko gasps in surprise. "Then… why didn't you stop it?"

"Because we could be blamed." Shanghai speaks up. "Besides, this is related to neither Japan nor Gamindustri. You work with politics, you know how it could end."

"…I see." Sugawara understands. "But, what's her goal?"

"That… we don't know." Histoire is unsure. "We need to gather more information from Tyuule herself."

"So be it." Reiko sighs. "At least now we have the diplomatic immunity. We don't have to hide…"

"I'm afraid it's the opposite now." Shanghai shakes her head. "It might be okay with Molt, but remember, he's being poisoned."

"… So the Crown Prince will be in control for now." Sugawara realizes the bad situation. "This is something we must inform back."

"Agree." Reiko nods. She then notices the other citizens starting to leave. "We should leave now. We can talk tomorrow."

* * *

Location: Research Land. Main tower. Meeting room

Same time

"That's one risky plan you had there, miss Tyuule." Kuro stands up and looks out at the window, observing the bright moon on the sky. He then shakes his head disapprovingly. "If it happens in my world, I would have thrown you into jail instantly."

"My apology." Tyuule looks down at the table, not daring to look up. "But, I wanted to see them suffer…"

"I'm not blaming you. I would do the same in your position." He sighs. "Look, it's already done, we can't change it. However, please tell us what plans you have made so we could make an alternative way. Also… do you think you can contact the Haryo again?"

"… I believe so. However, their first goal is to conquer the Gate in Alnus Hill. And now they have their sights on you as well."

"Hmm…" Putting his hand on his chin, Kuro runs through any possibilities. Then, he says: "Then we can't make friends with them, unfortunately. Their actions are the pre-productions of war."

"…"

Kuro then decides to end the conversation: "It's quite late at night. You can return back to your room and…" However, his words are cut short when he feels someone hugging him with their arms wrapping gently around his neck. "…Tyuule?"

"… Can we stay like this for a moment?" The bunny girl whispers back, not letting go off him.

"…" Kuro feels something is up, so he doesn't say anything.

"…It's been a long time…" Tyuule starts. "Years after years… those men gave me the feelings of untrusting at every moment. They gave me those cold, sadistic looks and turned me into their plaything… I had forgone the idea of someone who could save me from such fate…"

"…"

"Then… my own brethren appeared in front of my eyes… it soon gave me hope again. Hope that someone could pull me out of my darkness…"

"…"

"You… you are my… our light. I thank you for giving me a second chance to rebuild everything…"

"Well… you're welcome."

"But, in order to make sure it could happen." Tyuule then grabs his shoulders and turns him back, so their eyes could meet. "We need males from the other species, including human…"

"No." Kuro immediately denies what she has in her mind.

Now that nearly catches her by surprise. No one would have denied that fast and straight forward. "Why not? It would be…"

"Simple: We haven't loved each other… yet." Gently grabbing her hands and putting them out of his shoulders, Kuro says without hesitation. "Call me playboy if you want, but I'm loyal to the ones I love. On a VERY rare occasion, would something that you have in your mind happen. And this is not that one."

Mistaking that she might have offended him, Tyuule quickly steps back while bowing apologetically: "My apology. I shouldn't have done so…"

"It's fine." Kuro reassures her. "I'm not angry or anything. I know you bunny girls need outsiders to keep your bloodlines in check. It's just that I am not fond of the idea."

"… Is that so?" The bunny girl sighs.

"But…" Grabbing Tyuule's chin and moving her face so their eyes could meet again, Kuro sends her a flirty look and says with a seductive voice: "If you really want me, then who am I to deny a beauty's wish? A small warning though: you won't be able to go out with someone else other than me."

That one aggressive action from Kuro catches Tyuule off guard, and her face heats up in embarrassment since she has never been 'attacked' like this before. "M…Mister Kuro… you…"

Kuro chuckles and retracts his hand. "Don't worry. I'm just joking around." He then walks towards the exit, but before he goes out: "Though, you can try… if you think you can make a way into my heart."

"…" The redness on her face doesn't vanish away even when Kuro's out of sight. Tyuule then puts her right hand on where her heart is, and feels it beating faster than usual. "…That feeling… how long have I lost it? And yet… within a few words…"

* * *

A few days later

Location: Research Land. Main tower

"What happened to Itami?" Kuro asks curiously, as he starts typing on his computer to try to find him through Observers' cameras.

"He's transferred to the Resource Investigation group." General Hazama replies. "Currently he's somewhere to the East, I believe."

"East, huh? A bit too close to the Empire… by the way, do you need help in Akusho? I heard the idiot prince put up quite some rules that stopped nearly all interactions inside out."

"Hm… I don't really want to ask you for help."

"If it's about policy, then you can throw it out of window." Kuro chuckles. "It's just me wanting our guys to not be in too much of a trouble."

"…Thank you. Maybe you can help us getting food into the area. The gates are locked so nearly nothing could pass through."

"Got it. Tell your boys and girls about it, so they won't be caught off guard."

"Roger… So you have recovered?"

"Somewhat. I might not be able to beat Rory, though."

"Do you need something? You have helped us too much."

"Don't sweat it." Kuro assures him. "To me, you guys keeping yourself alive is a great help to me."

"…I see. If you really need something, then don't hesitate to ask."

"Wilco. Goodbye." With that, Kuro closes the call on his phone while returning to the computer screen.

"Are you leaving already?" Kuro briefly turns to his left to see Charlotte and their daughter walking to him, with the latter holding the mage's left arm.

"You know that's I'm not staying one place for too long." Kuro says, and he rubs his daughter's cheek. "Sorry for not talking with you for a long time."

"Nuh-uh. I can't be mad at you." The girl replies back, while enjoying the affection.

"Thank you my dear." Placing a kiss on her forehead, he then stands up and kisses Charlotte on her cheek. "I can't bring you with me on a long trip. And the next destination is not good for you all."

"I know." Charlotte nods. "Be careful."

"I will." Kuro promises. He then grabs the two's hands and gently leads them outside, leaving the computer to work on itself.

They then reach a military LAV on the front of the main tower, where Death, Tyuule and Yao are waiting for him. Once seeing them, Kuro asks: "Are you ready?"

"Everything's set!" Death shouts up while raising her scythe up.

Yao looks a bit uncomfortable, but she has a determined expression on her face. "I'm ready."

"We can leave at any moments. Please take your time." Tyuule responds.

"I see." Kuro then pats both Charlotte and Kurumi one more time. "Be careful, okay?" Earning nods from the girls, Kuro walks to the LAV and jumps into the driver seat, with the trio getting on the vehicle quickly. "Our objective is to get to Bellnahgo and meet Hardy herself. Keep your guard up girls, because it won't be an easy-going trip."

* * *

**Chapter 11 end!**

**There are really some conflicts between the manga itself and the wiki. I will try my best to use the right one.**

**So yeah, Kuro's back in action. Can't put him down for too long.**

**I think that's it, for now. See you all in the next chapters!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Damn, after re-checking the map... Rondal and Bellnahgo are closer than I thought. Oh well, I just have to make do.**

* * *

"Italica surely has rebuilt itself quite well." Kuro comments, as he sees the defending walls from afar. He decided to pay a visit to the Formal Clan since they're on the way to Bellnahgo.

"Agreed. It did survive a seemingly losing fight before." Death comments. "Anyway, miss Tyuule, are you planning to meet your people here?"

"Of course! I need to tell them about the misunderstanding." The former queen replies, determination written in her eyes. "The more knowing about this, the better."

Yao then notices the soldiers starting to get into formation when they are on their sight. "…Sir Kuro? Did you tell them about our arrival?"

"Nope!" Kuro grins. "That's a surprise coming in to them."

That causes Death to giggle and the others to facepalm.

"Halt!" One of the soldiers gives them the signal to stop, and Kuro complies by stepping on the break. Once the LAV stops, a young soldier walks to the left side of the car and asks Kuro: "Jayesdeef, one of your groups just entered this place a few days ago. What do you need?"

"Just paying a visit to the old man Formal. We won't take long." Since the window is up, the soldier couldn't see who just talks back.

"Show me your face." The soldier orders. Kuro lowers the window and reaches his head out of the window then looks at the soldier in the eyes. "Do you have any permissions to go here?"

"Like I said, just paying a visit here. Does it really need one?" Kuro decides to play the dumb game.

"If you don't have one, then I have to ask you to leave…"

"Guard, stand down!" The captain of the guards, upon seeing Kuro's face, immediately recognizes him and runs towards them.

"But sir…"

"I will deal with this." The soldier salutes and walks back to the formation. The captain then apologizes: "My apology. He was transferred here a few days ago, so he didn't know your face."

"It's alright. He's doing his work. Say, is Formal here?"

"You mean the Count, sir?" Nods. "I'm sorry, but he's currently in the Capital… He might return in a few hours or so."

"I see. Well, I do have a few more business here. Can we head in?"

"Of course sir!" The captain then shouts the order to his men: "Open the gate and make way! Our Savior is here!"

"Savior?" Both Tyuule and Yao ask, as Kuro retreats back into his seat and drives the car into the city.

"The name people here giving him after he protected the people here and returned the Count back safely." Death explains. "He was a prisoner among with some other soldiers in Gamindustri, and Kuro returned them back here with nearly no asking for compensation."

"…Nearly." Tyuule won't miss a word like that.

"Just trading business advantages, that's all. Nothing too serious that would cause a trouble in economy." Kuro replies back.

…

Location: Meeting room

"That problematic huh, miss Myui?" Kuro comments.

"The Prince's not going to back down in this war until he sees the total defeat." Persia, now as Chika, replies. "Count Formal was called earlier to talk about the assistance of Italica…"

"Then my call for Hunters is not for naught then." Kuro remembers his conversation with General Hazama. "Also, Itami's group was here earlier?"

"They were, sir." Myui responds. "You just missed a party, though."

"Then it's not too serious. Not a fan of it, really." He then looks around before asking Yao: "Tyuule hasn't returned?"

"I think a reunion which is very important to them will last longer." Yao answers. Her eyes then wander to Chika and Mohmu, who's now Kei. "Your… relationship with the others are quite complicated. Even more than the Empire's current situation, I dare say."

"Kuro being 'alive' is already a complication." Kei jokingly comments about his status. "Anyway, you might want to chase him soon. I heard that Deities coming to another's land without permission is not going to have a fun time."

Death raises her hand up. "I went there all the time."

"You don't count. You're basically her." Chika shakes her head.

"Well, we could spare a night here." Kuro concludes. "We're not in a rush or anything."

"I just said… never mind. It's you we're talking about." Kei sighs.

…

Nighttime

"No wonder the windows are broken." Kuro laughs as he drinks the wine in his glass. "Can't be helped. You two made a fierce fight right in the middle of the hall."

"Sorry about that. You have to fix it back for us…"

"Don't sweat it. It's just a finger snap anyway."

Currently the group's inside one of the guest rooms, while watching the full moon on the sky. Count Formal, thankfully, managed to return without a scratch. However, same thing can't be said to the others in Pro-Peace fraction.

Yao opens another conversation: "Sir Kuro… about the Flame Dragon…"

"It's your choice to put your faith into someone." Kuro calmly says. "If you lose yours in someone, then simply abandon it and follow the others. The worlds have many kinds of people."

"… Then, I will change my name to Yao Ku Dushi, if you don't mind."

"…I don't." He does, but he doesn't want to disappoint her with his displeasure.

"If another war breaks out…" Tyuule suddenly brings that topic up. "Between Japan and Falmart… would you join in the fight?"

"… Yes. However, I would focus on protecting the citizens than directly fighting. I have enough for a few months already."

"I doubt that." Death comments. "I mean, I know you would do the former, but, you-know-who would force you to do the latter later on."

"…Yeah, you're probably right."

"Who are you talking about?" Tyuule asks in curiosity.

"You don't need to know."

'Hey Master…'

'I told you all not to call me that. What happened?'

'It's the Opr… screw that name. Those Kobold guys are hunting the Senators. Anyone that's in their way is screwed. And the ones not following them as well.'

'… Try getting as many out of there as possible. However, ONLY the ones that's likely to be killed. The ones getting thrown into the prisons will survive.'

'Wilco. Hey, I saw an angel on that girl's head, but demons on her parents.'

'… Observe them. Intervene if it's a must.'

'Well that's good to hear. Can't let another kid get their parents killed.'

"Sir Kuro?" Yao starts shaking him. Once he's back and turns to her, she asks: "What happened to you?"

"Ah, it's nothing. Just giving orders to some of my units. Anyway, it's late now. You girls should go to bed."

"And you?" Tyuule asks.

"Charlotte would kill me if I join in with you. I will just take the sofa. It's soft enough, so don't worry."

* * *

Time skip

Kuro: "Rondel… I was expecting more…"

Death: "What, people flying around with a broom?"

"Somewhere along the lines. And more advanced than the others… I'm thinking of Dwarves, am I?"

Yao: "You are, sir. Where should we head now?"

"Let's try to find Itami and his group. He was found last in this place. Though, I did find signals of those Haryo as well."

"I will deal with it."

"Then let Death go with you. Who knows what these guys could do to you."

…

"Come out. I could hear you all." Tyuule orders. Right now she and Death are standing in a dark alley, where nobody bothers to look into.

"The former queen of Bunny Warrior Tribe." Bouro emerges from the shadow. "We were suddenly cut off when you were brought to Rectus Hill. We were planning to get you out…"

"Don't need to." Tyuule replies back. "In fact, I'm here to tell you this: I don't work with you anymore."

"… Then it's a shame. However, you know our existence…"

Death immediately steps between the bunny girl and Bouro while slamming her scythe's blade into the ground. "Don't bother. She's currently under my protection. You fight, you die."

"… Very well then." Bouro, while he's stupid in his own way, he knows when to retreat or not. "Until next time." With that, he walks into the shadow and disappears.

"… He's willing to kill you there." Death says to Tyuule while pulling her scythe up.

"I know, I saw it in his eyes… The Haryo is definitely our enemy now."

"He's the leader, I take it?"

"Yes. He and I planned the poisoning."

"Let's return back to Kuro. We will plan the next move when we meet him."

…

"Itami's group is definitely here." Kuro bites on one of the apples he and Yao recently bought from a merchant while walking on the road. Their LAV is pocketed for the time being. "Speeches about 'Lalena fight' are a good give-away."

"I also heard about the Pied Piper as well." Yao replies. "His, or her, target is someone in Itami's group. But, given the rumors, it seems to be Lelei whom they're following."

"… I remembered Molt, the Emperor if you forgot his name, telling Pina to find her for a reward. However, since Zorzal is on the throne… maybe it's a 'kill on sight' order now."

Then, someone suddenly walks out from the left alley and accidentally bumps into Kuro. Does he not have good reflect, would he fall to the floor with the person already. Instead, he spins and grabs the person on the waist, while using his magic to levitate anything that's dropped from the person's hand.

"That was sudden. You okay?" Kuro asks the person, which turns out to be an old lady wearing a mage outfit similar to Lelei.

"I'm fine. Thank you young man." The lady says her thank to him, as he slowly moves the books and parchments and stacks them up in her hands.

"No sweat, madam. By the way, may I ask if you know someone with the name of Lelei?"

"You want to find Lily?" Apparently she's closer to her than Kuro thought. "She just left last night… What do you need from her?"

"We're her friends." Yao explains. "We heard that she was here."

"Then you just missed her, I'm afraid." The old lady sighs. "But, you can try to head north or so. Her group wanted to meet Hardy for some reasons…"

Kuro turns briefly to Yao, and both nod at the same time. Kuro then bows to the old lady and says: "Thanks for the information. We should leave now to catch up with her."

"Take care of yourself!" The old lady waves her hand to the duo before leaving on her own way.

"… At least we're not so far behind, then." Kuro comments. "Well then, another time skip it is."

Yao doesn't understand the reference. "What do you mean by…"

* * *

Time skip

"Didn't the wind blow a little strangely just now?" Rory asks, suspicious at how the stick fell to the ground.

Hodor looks around, trying to feel the wind. "…No. Nothing out of ordinary."

"Are you very sure?" The Apostle is not buying it.

"At least, not now." Hodor confirms.

"I didn't rig it, that's for sure." Itami checks his watch, not seeing the problem.

"Look at where it's pointing at." Rory points her finger towards its mark on the map, which is Bellnahgo. "I have a bad feeling about it."

"But, even if you say so…" Itami responds. "I got the invitation from her. And you did need to declare that you don't want to marry Hardy, right?"

"The problem is the timing." Rory is pissed. "I wouldn't be surprised if the assassins were also invited."

"Well, you can try it again, right?" Shandy suggests, which earns approval from Tuka.

"Well, we could try…" The sound of something rolling loudly on the road causes everyone to stand up and prepare their weapons, as Itami turns back to see another LAV heading towards them. "What the? Since when did they send another group with us?" That makes everyone raise their guards even higher.

The LAV then parks right next to their jeep. The driver seat opens, and everyone points their weapons at that location…

"Yo! Who the hell made that tunnel collapse?" The door closes forcefully, revealing Kuro with a cheeky smile on his face. The others in the car then leave it, revealing themselves to Itami's group.

"Mister Kuro!" Everyone shouts in surprise before lowering their weapons upon seeing the driver. Itami then walks up and gives Kuro a handshake. "It's good to see you again! Since when did you recover?"

"A few days ago. I heard you got transferred to another part of the army, and you were close so I decided to find you first." He then looks behind to see Rory starting to get irritated again. "What's eating her?"

Hodor greets him before he explains: "Good to see you walking again. Rory is a bit suspicious that Hardy is forcing them to meet her."

Yao greets Tuka and the others before looking down towards the map. "… You're heading to Bellnahgo too?"

"…too?" Rory grits her teeth.

"We have our own reasons to meet Hardy, except Tyuule who just wants to find her people." Yao explains.

"And we're trying to escape the assassins…" Grey scratches his non-existed hair. "We really have our hands full of work."

"Well we're here!" Death shouts, nearly startling everyone. "Let's just go already!"

"Um… who are you again?" Shandy hasn't seen her before.

"I'm Death! Nice to meet you!" That casual answer sends shiver down the back of whoever never heard of her.

"We better move on." Tyuule warns. "We're facing not only human assassins but of another race as well."

"I agree." Kuro nods. "Hey, if the car's too crammed, then you can get on mine as well. I could call one more if you want."

"Thanks, but I think your current one is already enough." Itami nods. He then returns to his group and says: "Everyone, our next destination will be Bellnahgo."

* * *

Time skip

After the 'window shopping' session, everyone heads to the main cathedral where they could meet The Goddess of Underworld. Though, one of the priests stops them from advancing further inside: "Rory Mercury. You may be an Apostle, but you may not enter the temple without our goddess' permission…" And she and the others immediately shut up and kneel when Itami shows the invitation.

"That was easy." Kuro chuckles.

"Only because we have the invitation." Rory counters. She then says to one of the priests: "Lead the way."

One short walking, and they reach a dark stairway that causes Rory to stop right before it. After asking for the reason, Itami offers to heads in first, and Rory quickly follows behind him. Kuro goes down next with Death, and the rest follow.

Then, they reach a clear ground, where the Pope tells them to show respect to their goddess. Everyone quickly bows/kneels when the light from above shines down. Except Death who just sways in place.

When Hardy fully shows herself to everyone and waves to them in a friendly manner, Itami thinks in his mind: 'So this is really Hardy? The one who used the Flame Dragon to bring disaster to everyone? And why does she feel fami…' He briefly turns to Death. 'Right, they're basically the same. Also, Rory mentioned that deities can take on any appearance they want. So she's basically a plastic-surgery beauty, huh?' That causes Hardy to snap at him, and plans to complain to Rory… only for Kuro to act first and whack Itami's head with a paper fan. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"That's rude, dude. Calling a girl's nature beauty a plastic surgery? Even if it's the truth, don't just freaking think about that." The deity scowls at how insensitive Itami is at this situation.

"Ack, I'm sorry… Wait, are you reading our minds?" Itami asks back in surprise, earning look that says 'obviously' from Kuro, a disapproving glance from Hodor and a smile from Hardy after pouting. "Seriously? I better be careful not to think anything weird… maybe it's already too late now."

"It is." Kuro then hears Hardy starting to ask the priests, and they start kneeling down. "Hey Hardy, don't use their bodies. They're not ready." Earning looks of disbelief and anger from the priests, he just ignores it. Hardy then asks him a question, and he answers: "I could offer you a body that could work. And no, not mine." Hardy makes a pouty look and turns away. "And no, I'm not referring to my other appearance either."

"… Perks of being dead, and alive at the same time?" Tyuule whispers to Death, which makes the priests' ears peak up in confusion.

"Pretty much."

Kuro then, to the priests' surprise, channels power similar to Hardy herself into his left hand. The power orb then floats out of his hand and starts transforming into a physical body of Hardy, causing everyone to gasp. Even Hardy is surprised and curious at the unmoving carbon copy of her. She then starts entering the body…

And the body's eyes start opening. Hardy then starts moving her arms and body while observing with great interest. She turns to Kuro and asks: "Is it okay for me to use the body?"

Kuro just shrugs. "I could create more, if I really want to."

Hardy giggles. "So it seems." She then turns to the others and greets: "You have done well to travel so far to here, travelers. I am Hardy, the Goddess of Underworld."

Everyone gasps in surprise again, not knowing what to say. On one hand, it's rarely to see their deities descending to the mortal realm. On the other, they just witnessed a 'nobody' creating a body that looks exactly like their goddess, and is able to let her possess with no consequences.

"Now then." Hardy speaks up again. "Let's go."

"Go where?" Itami dumbly asks back.

"First would be sating my appetite." Hardy thinks about what she would do. "Then, we might discuss about why you came here for."

…

"… Girl, quality over quantity, please." Kuro says, a grin escaping his lips, commenting on the number of empty dishes being placed next to Hardy.

Wiping her mouth clean with a handkerchief, the goddess replies: "My tastes are a bit numb lately. If this is the other's body, I might not even feel anything while eating these delicious food."

Hodor can relate. "Time could nullify many things in us. Even something as deep as grief."

Hardy nods. She then places the knife and fork down, and starts the business: "I think it's enough to keep my appetite in check. Now…" She gives Rory a look of invitation. "Rory, become my wife. Let's melt together and have fun for eternity."

"I told you many times before, and I will tell it again: I refuse." Obviously Rory is not into that.

"Hoho, does that have something to do with this man?" Hardy leans towards Itami, who stiffs up in afraid. "Now, don't turn so stiff. I was merely asking a question…"

"Đừng chơi trò 'đập chậu cướp hoa' kiểu đó chứ!" Kuro chuckles while everyone's confused at his native words. "I mean, why are you even interested in him? Death told me you doesn't like us men, right?"

"Don't ruin my fun like that." Hardy pouts. She turns to Tuka and Yao and suggests: "How about you two? You would do just fine, I'm sure."

After what she has done? Nuh-uh. "I will have to refuse, Lady Hardy." "The same goes to me."

She plans to ask Lelei as well, but decides to hold it back since the mage's sending a 'don't bother asking' look to her. Hardy now focuses more on Yao, and asks: "So you want to quit being my followers, after what happened to your friends and family, am I right?" She earns a hateful glare from the dark elf. "I will take it as a yes. However, I won't apologize. Not now, not ever."

"…I see." Yao expresses her hatred through her tone and eyes. "During the time, I have wondered why I even worshipped you in the first place… guess I was too naïve."

"Indeed, young elf." Hardy responds. "No matter how long you can live, you won't be able to surpass my knowledge, and know what it means to be a deity."

"…I was expecting you to react hastier, Yao." Hodor is surprised at how collective Yao is now.

"… Sir Kuro is not the only one knowing, and seeing sufferings daily." Yao simply says, referencing to one person no knights or Hardy know.

"…T.O, I take it?" Hodor decides to spell the person's name, earning a nod from the dark elf.

"So you found out the reason why I released the Dragon. Impressive." Hardy praises.

"Doesn't make me feel anywhere near comfortable."

"Anyway, let me tell you the reason I called you here." Hardy changes the topic of the conversation. "I want you to go to Cnappnuy and find out what happened there."

"It's in North of Bellnahgo if I remember correctly." Grey says when he hears Itami's question of confusion.

"North from here, huh? Does it happen to be related to the earthquakes?" Everyone turns to Kuro. "According to our scan, the source of the event came from there."

"It is." Hardy confirms. "And it's relevant to the Gate in Alnus Hill."

That gets everyone's attention. Kuro expresses his feeling for it: "Interesting… The show's yours."

Hardy then starts her explanation about the flow of space-time and how two worlds could be connected.

"Hm… now you said it…" Kuro comments. "I never stabilized the portals to the other worlds with solid structures… Maybe that's why we didn't suffer from it."

"Your portal-making is a completely different case." Hardy replies. "It's not happened naturally, but because of an accurate calculation and balance of power."

"… Continue." Kuro decides to play dumb a bit.

"What's your goal in that, Hardy?" Rory questions the other goddess' motive.

Taking a sip, Hardy answers: "I wish for this world to become more splendid and more beautiful."

"So you can tear it apart?" Hardy's chuckle confirms Rory's theory.

Hardy then changes her tone: "However, while I admitted that I opened the hole in Alnus Hill…I was completely caught off guard when another portal opened in Rectus Hill. And even more surprise when the Empire actually lost without zero gains. And you…" Hardy looks at Kuro. "…Your sole present disturbed me. Just sensing your power made me think that you're here to claim my position. I was about to send the Apostles to go and destroy you and the portal… only for her to suddenly appear right before me." She now turns to Death. "Death, my counterpart as the best comparison. She went to me with her original form, and she started her explanation… that seriously questioned my sanity."

"Sanity? Please, if we don't have an ounce of insanity in us, then life's too boring." Kuro spins the restaurant knife in his hand.

"For thousands of years, I have never heard such… absurd stories about one person… anyway, since your focus is on helping people, as she said, I decided to take my focus on Alnus Hill for a while… until the souls returned to me and Emroy's. And after that, I got scolded by the other gods and goddesses…"

"Served you right." Rory, Kuro, Hodor and Yao say at the same time.

That makes Hardy pout for a second. She then turns to Itami. "Since your group has killed my Flame Dragon, I have to stop my plan of destroying the Gate. It's your responsibility now to do so, if you want both worlds to be safe from collapse. This time I will stand aside and watch."

"Okay then…" Itami replies dryly.

"…Do you really understand?" Hardy is doubting Itami's info absorption ability.

"He always looks like that, Hardy. Don't be surprised." Rory casually comments.

"Strange? This isn't like what Giselle reported to me."

"Probably trying to hide her embarrassing defeat~" Death says with her sing-sang voice.

Hardy looks at the immortal girl again, before turning back to Kuro. "Did you do something to her?"

"Nope. Don't ask me about her personality, I did nothing on that part." He then turns serious. "Hardy, you feel them as well, right?"

"The moment they stepped into my land." Hardy responds, then she grabs her cup and throws it out of the window. A second later, people's screams catch the group's attention as they look outside to see a dead assassin. "I'm surprised you didn't notice…"

"It's more of signal mixing. Your land is full of darkness. Finding a small sin within sins is not that easy."

"Trying to kill a person is not a small sin, Kuro." Hodor quirks an eyebrow at the deity in question.

"Depends if it's related to fate or not." Kuro's left fingers start twitching. "Hey, Hardy. Is Hell's space free?"

"It's called Underworld, and yes it's free."

"Kay then." He decides to close his palm. In a second, multiple deaths occur at the same time.

"Was… was that necessary?"

"If it's a true devil, Yao, then I'm not afraid to use force." He then stands up. "Hardy, I will accompany to destroy the gate. However, don't expect me to close the portal. It's the only way that I could contact my own family."

"… If anything happens, it's on you." Hardy decides not to interfere.

"Thanks, then."

* * *

'Hey, Itami.' Kuro calls the soldier through telepathy during their run back to Rondel.

'What is it?'

'About what Hardy told you about running away from problems...'

'Yes… I know, I'm a coward…'

'No… well, if you see yourself that way. However, let me tell you this: It's okay to do so, but you need to also have a back-up plan if that fails. Like Hardy said, problems will await you, and sooner or later you will have to face it.'

'…'

'You might not know it, but… when I was in Heavenly Host, I ran, a lot, from problems. However, I always told myself that I need to fight back, since running would only put the others in danger even further than it already was. Thanks to my knowledge, I was able to save everyone… except myself.'

'But, you're not a coward…'

'Oh you're wrong… If compared to you, I'm just a teenager, who still has his… own problems.'

'…'

'Keep it in mind, Itami. It will save you big times in the future.'

'…'

'…'

'…'

'Hey, want to race?'

'…Why not?'

* * *

**Chapter 12 end!**

**I don't know what to say for now, so... see you all in the next chapters!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Welp, sorry for the delay. I'm back!**

* * *

"…I expect nothing less from him." Reiko nods understandably. "However, we Ambassadors can't really do so."

"We do know the risks you're having." The newcomer replies. "Although, if you change your mind, we are going to help you with whatever you need."

It's nighttime in Falmart, and the Ambassadors of Japan are currently staying in the Jade Palace provided by the Empire. While they were discussing about the current situation between worlds after the Emperor got poisoned, someone entered the Palace and claimed to be a helper from Gamindustri. The person showed the proof by bringing out the special message recorded by Kuro, so the Ambassadors calmed down, and Reiko started the conversation.

"It's going to be hard." Sugawara says. "No offense, we are really appreciated of your help. However, the damage after that will be immeasurable."

"We're aware of that." The person stops leaning from the war and walks to the table. "But, the majority of it will be Zorzal's army and reputation. It will overweigh the damage we will receive if the situation between Earth and Falmart gets worse."

"That… sounds odd." Sugawara remembers his conversations with the person in question. "Mister Kuro wouldn't say something like that…"

"Believe me, he would never want to think about it. However, karma is something he won't mess with. If you want to gain something, you need to lose something in return."

The room drops in silence. While it's against their rules, there are some nature forces that no normal human could withstand…

Sounds of horns break the silence in the night. The newcomer then turns to the window and walks closer to it and looks out to see what's going on. "…What are they doing?"

Reiko explains: "Maybe they're doing a last check around."

"Hm… I don't think so…" He then points his finger towards the darkness. "There are two dark figures in the forest… wait…"

"Enemies?" Sugawara asks, as the others stand up in anxiety.

"…No, allies. Falmartians, both of them… why did they have to hide?"

"…Let the Rose Order do their work. Mister, can I ask you a few more questions about Kuro's motives?"

"…I don't believe I could say more than what you have seen in him. But, if there's something I could add..."

…

About half an hour later

"That's the situation." Beefeater E Caty explains the situation to Sugawara, who's sweating because of the problem he's in. "If you think you could do something, do it fast. Or things will get ugly." With that, the knight of the Rose Order says her goodbye and returns to her post.

"Think carefully, mister Sugawara." The newcomer warns. "This is a crucial situation, and you have to make the best choice."

"Why is it his choice, and not ours?" Reiko asks. "Clearly, all of us are in responsibility here…"

"Because Sherry asked specifically him." He answers. "Even IF you give out value points and suggestions, only he is going to be the person to decide her fate."

"…I'm just a random guy working in the Ministry." Sugawara talks back.

"Random? Maybe it is." The newcomer shakes his head. "However, it could be fate. Let me tell you one thing: Kuro was NEVER picked to do what he has done. Everything was like a rollercoaster to him, but he always aimed to the best scenario he could get, even when the odd was against him. Even when it cost his life, he has no regrets."

"…" Turning back to the window, Sugawara sees the girl and hears her call for him. "…What should I do?"

"The better question is: Would you dare doing what you're having in your mind?" Leaving the man in his thoughts, the newcomer then warns the Ambassadors: "The Sweepers are closing by."

"Those guys again?" One of the members groans. "They must be after the duo."

"…That's not something I expected to hear when I listened to the first request. Why are there only two of them?" The newcomer is questioning the situation.

"Her parents sacrificed themselves…"

"Right under my subordinate's watch." The newcomer interrupts Reiko. "There's something strange here…"

…

After Sugawara has decided his actions, he rushes out of Jade Palace and heads outside, just in time the Sweepers are planning to take Sherry away. He manages to stop them with his shout, and plans to run to the Sweeper who's having the girl, only for the knights of the Orders to stop him, barely. After he shouts to them to drop Sherry, Beefeater has to remind Sugawara to make it clear.

And his choice is:

"THE GIRL IS MY BETROTHED! I WILL MARRY HER ONCE SHE TURNES SIXTEEN!"

That one choice of him has saved the girl, as Beefeater immediately orders her knight to get her into the border of Japan's control. Enraged by the actions, the Sweepers take position and plan to attack the Rose Order and the Japanese envoy, while the Rose Order also reaches the defensive line immediately…

"Good choice." The newcomer praises the man as he walks to the duo, and the two look up at him. "You saved the light from darkness."

"…Is this a good choice?" Sugawara asks back.

"Best choice doesn't mean it has a good end. But, that's why we're here to secure the 'good' part." He then walks forward and pats one of the knights. "Excuse me, can I come through?" The knight takes a small moment to turn back… and steps forward once so the newcomer could get through before returning to the line. He then draws out his sword and points it to the Sweeper leader and says: "You Oprichnina is the curse of this world. Leave now, or we will eliminate you right here."

The leader doesn't recognize the newcomer at first, so he's angry that the person is daring to stop him. "We have our orders to capture the criminals. Step aside!"

"Orders, from whom? Your pathetic prince has been killed by my creator before, and yet he's still able to spout those nonsenses into your head." He then stabs his sword down, as a signal for the Alto and Bianco Angelo armors to appear in front of the Rose-Order line and create another line of defense with their shields, startling the Sweepers. "Last warning: Leave, or die."

"Like we're scared of a bunch of armors and old men!" The leader shouts. "Sweepers, kill those traitors and get the criminals."

"So be it." Raising his sword up, the newcomer then shouts: "I am Credo, the General of the Order of the Sword! By the order of our creator, PEACE MUST NOT FALL!" With that, the armors all point their weapons to the Sweepers and fly forward to the Sweepers, stopping their attempts of going after the Rose-Order and the Japanese ambassadors.

After being surprised by the appearance of the armors, Bozes regains her focus and shouts her order: "Rose-Order Knights! Protect the Convoy and the Doves. DO NOT LET THE SWEEPERS BREACH THOUGH!"

…

After the battle ends, the Sweepers have to retreat. Thanks to Order of the Sword, the knights of Rose-Order only has a few ones being wounded, nowhere near fatal. Bozes then requires the Japanese ambassadors to accommodate the injured, which is granted immediately since Jade Palace is the Empire's property.

Sherry stands next to Sugawara and watches the Orders cleaning the battlefield. A moment later, Marquis calls them to head into the Jade Palace. The two comply and follow…only, from corner of her eyes, Sherry couldn't help but shout out the people running towards them. "Mother? Father?"

That makes everyone to immediately turn to where she's looking at, and Marquis gasps in surprise. "I…Impossible. How could…"

Sugawara then sees the girl running towards the duo, and once she gets a hug from both of the couple, he has no doubts that they are real. "…They must have escaped death… but how…"

"Man, did I just miss a party?" Turning back, the Ambassador then sees a new guy talking to Credo.

"Where have you been? It could be no injuries if you have joined us in the fight." The general is not very happy that his subordinate wasn't there to help the Rose-Order defending the Palace.

"Hey, I have to make sure the couple is safe, okay? The Sweepers are everywhere."

"Why didn't you join with the young noble and the senator earlier?"

"The couple decided to burn the mansion WITH THEM in it. When I saw only the two escaping, I had to make a quick run back… and I couldn't track them back." The subordinate scratches his head. "So cut me some slacks here, okay?"

Credo sighs and pinches his nose bridge. "Don't let it happen again."

Sugawara decides to walk to them and bows to the two. "Thanks for your help. Casualty could happen if it's not for your help… and thanks for saving Sherry's parents."

The subordinate replies with a carefree manner: "Ah, it's nothing. It's my job. Anyway, the name's Nero. You must be the girl's husband, huh?"

That makes the man stiff up a bit. "Um…"

"Hey hey, no judging here." Nero quickly calms him down. "Just want some confirmations. And her parents already approved of you… well, that's what I heard from them."

Credo pats Nero's shoulder twice before saying: "Leave the man alone. Come and help me cleaning this mess."

"Alright, alright. Hey man, good luck." Nero says his best wish to Sugawara before walking to the armors which are helping the knights.

Sugawara then sees Sherry pulling her parents towards him, as the girl happily says: "He has proposed to me, so he's going to be our family member, right?"

"Of course." The Head of Tyueli smiles and gives Sugawara a handshake. "Thanks for saving my daughter and the Senator. Welcome to the family, son-in-law."

'Son-in-law, huh… Guess I am, now.' "It's my pleasure."

* * *

"An 'invasion', madam Histoire?" Everyone turns their heads to General Hazama, as he's talking over the phone. "… Wouldn't that put his reputation… Ah, I see… I understand. Have a good day, madam."

When the General puts the phone down, one of the soldiers asks him: "What is it about an invasion, sir?"

"A distraction tactic." Hazama explains. "Remember that we received orders to get the Doves out of the prisons and our Ambassadors back? T.O has also discussed about it with our high-ups and gave the info to Kuro, and he called out his force to head into the East Gate of Basson Prison. Their objective is to give us enough time to evacuate the prisoners and then protect us while we reach to dropzone."

"So… in literal sense, we have the God on our side." One soldier jokes.

"You could say something like that." Hazama couldn't help but let out a smile as well. Then he orders in a serious tone: "Gather everyone. We will have a last briefing before the operation starts."

* * *

Location: Rondel

"Urgh, sounds too much like our universities." Kuro groans, as he leans back into his chair.

"Come to think of it, you have never finished your education, right?" Itami asks back.

"Hey, with my knowledge now, I doubt that any professors could match me."

After returning to the inn in Rondel so the young mage could finish her work, Lelei explains on how the education system in Rondel works.

"Actually, if comparing to the system in Japan, both Itami and Kuro could be Sages now." Lelei reveals.

That takes a small moment for Itami to realize what she's saying. "What, me? How could that…"

"Well, it does make some senses." Kuro replies. "Of course, if compared to our current work, your thesis is nothing new, Itami. However, in this world, there are many things that they haven't found out yet. Hey, if I bring the concept of 'cancer' here, people would be in chaos."

"…Yeah. Not even healing spells work." Itami agrees.

Hodor then asks Kuro to change the subject: "What are you going to do with the Piper? Capture her?"

"…I'm afraid I don't have the authority to do so. Unless she's targeting my people, then it's a different story."

Yao asks: "So you found out her identity?"

"No. But, I happened to cross through a Shapeshifter. And the person's aura, while she's a man, showed that the person being a she. And her killing aura has revealed her nature."

"I see. But, if she's after Lelei… should we do something about it?"

"Hm… not visually, Tyuule." He then turns his head to the exit. "Looks like Grey is back."

Everyone also follows his movement, as the door opens to reveal said person. "Excuse me for my tardiness. I was looking for Lady Shandy. Is she here?"

"Not now, at least…" Closing his eyes, Kuro takes another check around the area. "She's heading here soon."

"Ah, thank you sir Kuro." Grey then enters the room. "What's your next move now, sir?"

"…" He says nothing at first, as he closes his left eye… then opens it again. "For now, just wait for her, then we will head to the conference."

…

"…I will repeat again. This is basically a university." Kuro deadpans as he sees the room Lelei's going to announce her research.

"Well, it's an Academy." Hodor reminds him.

"That doesn't mean I'm comfortable to see one again. First is mine, then Tristain, then Remnant and Mahora…" Kuro sighs. He then turns serious: "The operation has begun."

"What operation?" Hodor asks in confusion.

"The Doves were kept prisoners, and Japanese Ambassadors were attacked by the Sweepers a day ago. Japan has started the operation to pull all of them out, while I ordered my troops to provide support."

Having overheard the conversation, Tyuule walks to them and says: "Prince Zorzal is not going to back down until he sees the defeat himself."

"That's exactly what we will do once Lelei is done here."

Everyone then takes position around the Academy, as they wait for Lelei's turn. Kuro has also established the telepathy connection so everyone could keep track of where the others could be…

'Hey Boss, Tyueli family is saved. About the evacuation…'

'Japan will take care of it. For now, keep defending Jade Palace.'

'Roger… also, better prepare your suit for the next four years.'

'For what?'

'The young daughter's wedding.'

'…That's… I see. Keep watching the place.'

Kuro then notices that it's Lelei's turn… just in time for a suspicious woman wearing a robe starting to head into the room. 'Everyone, careful of her. She's the Piper.'

'Wait, that's Norra!' Shandy calls out. 'She's just a puppet!'

'I'm afraid that she lied to you. She has the same aura as the Shapeshifter I saw.' Loading a paralyze bullet into the chamber of his revolver, he starts focusing on the person. 'Hey, Hodor. Do you have any paralyze spells?'

'Thunder Strike.'

'…Of course. Prepare it.'

A few seconds later, Norra grabs her knife and leaps towards Lelei, aiming for the kill. Instantly Kuro draws out his gun and shoots her right at her body, stunning her in the air. Hodor also finishes his spell and throws it right at the assassin, nearly burning her out. Then, the other mages also throw their spells at Norra, effectively knocking her out.

"That's…overkill…" Itami sweatdrops, but he immediately rushes to Lelei while ordering the others: "Everyone, return back to the waiting room!"

Kuro puts his revolver back and heads to the unconscious body of Norra, as he sees the medics are planning to bring her out. He stops one of them and asks: "Can I check the body first?"

"We can't do so. We need to…"

"She has critical information in her mind. Give me a second."

Reluctantly, the medic tells the others to stop for a second. Kuro thanks them and walks closer to Norra's body. He then places his left hand on her head… and then retracts it back. "Thank you for your waiting."

"Wait, that's it?" The medic asks in confusion as Kuro walks away.

"Yes." Kuro answers.

"Wait a second, sir!" He turns back to see an elder Dragon mage walks to him. "Thanks for warning us about the Piper. May I ask what you're planning to do to her?"

"…It's your choice." Kuro says. "Since she's from Falmart, she's in your hands."

The mage nods, then asks: "But, how did you find it out? If The Piper is a Shapeshifter…"

For the response, Kuro turns into his God form, shocking the audience. "She just happened to cross me. And that's her downfall to do so." Then he returns back to his normal self, and walks towards the waiting room…

And he sees everyone sending Shandy strange looks, and the girl's hands are tied. She walks to Tyuule and asks: "What's going on here?"

"The girl tried to kill Lelei." Tyuule explains.

"…Yeah, the Piper tricked her, huh?" Kuro sighs, which earns a nod from the former Bunny Queen.

"I wasn't tricked! I had to go ALL THE WAY to Elron to check the rumors!" Shandy shouts angrily.

"Not in that sense, Shandy." Kuro interrupts. "The truth is always the most powerful tool to make someone obey you. That's what makes Piper a dangerous foe."

"Even if that's that, I still need to bring Lelei's head back to prove Princess Pina's loyalty!"

"To whom?" Kuro asks again.

"To…" For a moment, Shandy plans to say something, but then holds back.

"I see what you did there." Rory understands Kuro's question. "Currently Prince Zorzal is controlling the army, but it's only temporal. The Emperor is still alive, and everyone's still following him." Kuro raises his thumb up, confirming her statement.

"Nevertheless, she's still in danger!"

Itami walks to Kuro and asks: "What should we do now? It could damage the peace treaty between worlds."

"…Well, first thing is…" Kuro turns to Lelei. "I think you should continue your presentation, right?"

Everyone blinks once… and Lelei nods.

As the mage returns back to where she needs to be, Tyuule asks: "What's next?"

Pulling a chair out of nowhere, Kuro puts it in front of Shandy and sits down. He then looks directly into her eyes and says: "Let me confirm the rumors. And then we will ask Lelei's next moves."

* * *

Location: Alnus Hill

"They also asked you to be on Press too?" Noriko Mochizuki is seen standing on top of a hill while watching the Town of Alnus from afar and having a smoking cigarette in her hand. She then notices another victim, Peace, walking towards her.

"Well, they did." The girl smiles. "But, I don't really have anything to say, really. My situation is a lot better than everyone expected."

"You are a very lucky girl." Noriko smiles, but sadly continues: "Not many have that kind of luxury…"

"Thanks to my dead brother." Sitting down next to Noriko, Peace then looks at where the gate to Gamindustri could be. "If he was still alive… maybe I would be already dead."

"…One for one, huh?" Noriko somehow doesn't know who her brother is. "May his soul rest in peace…"

"…Uh, Noriko? You saw my brother, right?" The girl asks back in confusion.

"You said he's dead, right?" Noriko asks back.

"I said he's dead. I didn't say he's six feet under."

"…What's the difference?"

"…Did you see a dead guy with half-skeleton in the Palace?"

"I did… THAT'S YOUR BROTHER? I THOUGHT THAT'S JUST SOME RANDOM GUY?"

"That's my brother. And the one going with him that day is his son." Peace giggles at the stunned expression Noriko is having. "You will hear weirder things when you come to Gamindustri."

A truck then comes by and rides them to where they're needed. Noriko then asks Peace: "So, your brother… was he so scary like that before?"

"Quite the opposite, he's easily scared." The younger sister replies. "But, he could put up the right face to hide his true self. Of course, that mask's easily torn down if you know how to."

"Uhm… you're the sister of the big guy from the other gate, right?" The driver suddenly asks Peace. "Shouldn't he gather his force and protect this gate too, since, well, he's one of us?"

"He also has many other worlds to take care of, not just his old one." She answers. "Besides, Japan is doing their work well. He only intervenes if things go south. Also, he didn't let the other nations in his world interfere, because they have nothing to do with the invasions."

"…So, where is he now?"

"I don't know." Peace says truthfully. "His new job requires him to be at some random places. Can't find him if he really needs to keep himself undercover."

* * *

A few days later

'I'm bored, sis! Can I just kill them now?'

'You know that would upset him and might cause a war, right?'

'*Pout* But those guys are already marked! You said it yourself, right?'

'Relax. When the time comes, we will know.'

'But it could be any… wait… *excited* they are here! Can I, can I?'

'*Shake her head, but giggle* Let loose, my dear brother.'

* * *

**Chapter 13 end!**

**Well, I don't have anything else to say for now. See you all in the future! And take care of yourself during this dangerous time.**


	14. Chapter 14

"HQ, this is Cobra 1. Objective Koboteke has been destroyed. No human or dragons survived."

"This is Cobra 3. Objective Sasago has fallen."

"Dragoon base is down, I repeat, Dragoon base is down!"

"Sector cleared! Move in and secure the low ground!"

When they receive the green light for the operation, the air force immediately heads to the southeast-east wall of Imperial's Outer Wall. Their first objective is to destroy anything that could threaten them, which is the dragon riders. Fortunately, their helicopter missiles eliminate the threats before Imperial guards could even register what is happening. The military soldiers then land down and secure the place, handcuff any guards left survived. Once the base is secured, the major of soldiers fly towards the Bassoon Prison to rescue the Doves out of the Zorzal's imprisonment.

Upon the flight to the next location, Soichiro Kuwahara looks down to the forest below and tries to find something, causing Akira Tomita to ask: "What are you looking at, sir?"

"Some 'help'." The new commander of Third Recon replies. "According to General Hazama's briefing, the other gate has also sent some reinforcements to help us bringing the people out of Imperial ground."

"I bet it would be some sorts of awesome cyborgs!" Kurata enters the conversation. "Oh, maybe some stealthy ninjas or so!"

"You read too many mangas before the operation, Kurata." Daisuke scolds the otaku.

"Hey! The whole other world is basically a game world! Those things are mandatory!"

"I just hope it's not something too ridiculous." Soichiro says. "If it's someone like the god himself…"

"Hey, knowing the people around him, we could safely say the possibility is high."

Ten minutes after Kurata's remark, the helicopters reach the landing zone thanks to the Dark Elves' cooperation. After some preparations, the troopers slowly close-in the prison, which Soichiro comments it to be likely a fortress.

"The front gate is clear. No signs of the enemies." One of the scout soldiers reports.

"Copy that." The commander replies.

Watamaru Katsumoto then notices a flash of light from above. He calls in the radio: "Sniper team, can any of you check the top of the towers? The one at our eleven."

"Roger." One of them replies. He moves his sniper rifle up to the location and fixes the scope to get a clearer view… "Is that… hey, Kurata? Do you know any soldiers that has a skull mask?"

"Skull mask… no ideas." The soldier replies confusingly.

The sniper then watches the mysterious soldier raising two fingers up and then points down to the main gate, and one finger to the tower to his right. He then disappears into the inside of the prison. The sniper decides to lower down the scope to see the wall above the wall… "Disregard last. Two guards inside the wall above the gate…One more on the watchtower on our two."

"Roger." Soichiro replies. He then says: "So we have another military force inside the prison. Sounds good to me."

…

After securing the front gate, Third Recon heads into the underground basement to find any captured prisoners. However, during their runs, they encounter many dead Imperial guards with punch holes on their bodies, some being cut with some sorts of large blade. Kurata recognizes the way the blade is used due to how the bodies are cut. "Uh, commander… I think that duo is here… Chaos and Death…"

"Yeah… no human could punch that hard…" Kicking a body down to make sure that the guard is dead, Soichiro comments.

And their guesses are right, because after a few more steps, they see the brother sitting on a pile of corpses. "You guys are a little late. The party's over."

"Well… thanks for helping. We're appreciated." Soichiro replies. "Are the prisoners safe?"

"They are, don't worry. Our fights don't have any collateral damage if you're wondering." Death pops out from one of the shadows, surprising the soldiers a bit.

"Well… seems like we're not wasting our bullets. That's a plus to me." Kurata jokes, earning a punch to the shoulder.

"What are you going to do next? And, by any chances, do you know the soldier with a skull mask?" Soichiro asks Death to confirm something.

"That soldier is under Kuro's command, among some others in the castle. About us, well, we have our fun, so we will leave now. Take care." With that, the two vanish into the shadow.

"That's…interesting. Soldiers, we still have to evacuate the prisoners. Let's go." The commander re-orders so everyone could return their focuses back.

* * *

Location: Jade Palace

"These guys just don't give up, do they?" Nero comments as he stabs Red Queen through one of the Imperial units. "Hey, how much time left are the ones from Japan going to reach here?"

"Do I look like I care of that now?" Credo replies, then deflects a strike from one soldier and then decapitates the poor guy.

From Credo's blind sight, a Sweeper tries to stab him, but an Alto Angelo bashes its shield right at the person's face, then slashes him through the body. The commander armor then gathers three of Bianco Angelo and the four create the Energy Sphere and blasts it towards the backline, destroying the ballistae.

The Rose-Order knights have also positioned at the sides of the palace to protect the people inside from the surrounding attacks. With the supports of the sparred armors, only a few knights get hurt bad. The worst case they currently have is having one limb cut out of the body, and those knights are already evacuated into safe zone.

Pulling out Blue Rose, Nero aims for a Sweeper at the back of the line and pulls the trigger, killing the target, and the shot explodes due to him already charging it up with his demonic power. Credo, while not in his demon form, can still be able to call out his spears and throw them at the enemies, thrusting through a formation at one strike. The Alto Angelo also calls out multiple formations to the Bianco Angelo to either defensive order or suicide bombers.

Nero then notices movements from his left so he points Blue Rose to it… and doesn't pull the trigger for a moment because he recognizes who's in the bushes. "Credo! Japanese reinforcements have arrived!"

"Alright! Angelo, pull back! Defensive formation!" Credo raises his sword and shouts the order. The Bianco immediately fly back then stand on the ground, their shields raised up and their lances pointing towards, while the Alto fly above them and wait for further order. Credo and Nero slowly retreat back and jump over the defensive line, waiting for the attacks from JSDF…

"Hey! Why are you stopping?" Bozes notices that the Order of the Sword pulls back, so she asks their General.

Her answer comes immediately as the bombardments rain down the Imperial's battalions, wasting them in no time. The moment the bombardments stop, ground troopers burst out of their covers and attack their opponents from all sides, not letting Zorzal's soldiers have a chance to fight back. The backlines try to send the arrows to the JSDF, but the Alto have already seen that coming so they immediately rush out to deal with them, completely ignoring any other close-combat threats. Nero also goes in for the help by throwing Punch Line in its rocket form towards the enemy, distracting them in process. JSDF snipers also start taking down the Sweepers, effectively sending fear towards the remaining soldiers.

After a moment later, the Rose-Order knights retreat back to the main ground, as Beefeater shouts to Bozes: "Hey, they're retreating!"

"I saw that! Everyone, gather and mount your horses! Do not let them have a second to breathe!"

…

Half an hour later

"I am Colonel Kengun, Commander of Fourth Combat Regiment." After the fight, the leaders of the current JSDF force come inside to greet with the Ambassadors. "Vice Minister Shirayuri, we're glad to see you safe and sound. We're here to help you all."

"Thank you for coming. It's unfortunate that it came to this…" The woman replies gratefully, but with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"We have already predicted it to happen." Credo enters the conversation. "It's just a matter of time."

"We also thank you for your help." Kengun salutes to the general, who also salutes back. "Without your help, we might have suffered some injuries, and it could be worse."

"Don't mention it. It's the order for us to follow." Credo then notices one of the Alto standing in the room, but he doesn't say anything to it. "About the evacuation…"

"We have enough. You could come with us, unless you have other means to escape." Kengun replies.

Credo nods, then turns to Bozes. "Miss Bozes, you and your Order should follow them to either Italica or even Alnus and treat the wounded. Leave the Capital for the time-being."

"My apology, but I need to get Princess Pina." Bozes declines the offer. "We have some business…"

"There's no need." Credo interrupts. "If you're worried for Princess Pina's safety, then be assured that our Death has confirmed that she's not fated to die yet."

Knowing how powerful the individual he's talking about is, Bozes releases a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness…"

"Where is the big boss, by the way?" Kengun then changes the subject.

"Having some works with Hardy, last I heard." Nero answers. "Though, he might have found out the current situation, so he will return as fast as possible."

"I see. Okay, everyone, let's get out of here!"

* * *

"The evacuations in Jade Palace and Bassoon Prison are successful." Kuro speaks through the radio, as his left eye symbol is activating. "However, the situation inside Imperial Capital is getting worse. Zorzal is damaging the Empire's military by sending them into suicide fights."

"As expected." Tyuule says disdainfully. "He's the downfall of the Empire."

"Where are the evacuations heading to, Kuro? Alnus or Italica?" Itami calls out from his car, as both sides are riding as fast as they can so they could return quickly.

"Wait a moment… Alnus Hill. There are some serious wounded." Kuro confirms.

"How bad are they?" The soldier asks worryingly.

"Only from Rose-Order. The worst case, however, is only a limb lost, so you two don't have to worry." Kuro replies, calming down the two knights of the Order who are travelling in the same car with him.

"What's our next move now, aside from returning back to Alnus?" The soldier asks.

"…That depends on what will happen in Alnus…"

"Wait a second, Kuro. The HQ is calling me." Itami interrupts as he turns off the conversation with Kuro and answers the call from Alnus…

* * *

Hours later. Alnus Hill

"Dude, that's too many journalists, what the hell?" Nero looks out of the window of the helicopter to see the chaos below. "Hey Credo, do we have authority to push them away?"

"Unfortunately that we don't." The General replies. He then asks Bozes, who's looking anxious: "Still worried about your princess?"

"How can I be not?" The knight asks back. "I am grateful that your god helped, but that doesn't mean princess Pina is out of danger. Because of this… we might be marked as rebels."

Looking out of the window, Credo sees the same Alto looking inside the helicopter while keeping a good distance. "We can understand."

After that, the air force lands down, as the para-medics immediately transfer the wounded towards the military hospital to treat them. The journalists have also gathered around the transferring ways and they throw out questions after questions to the soldiers who are trying to keep them away. Nero then notices one non-Japanese squad coming out of a helicopter with a familiar emblem to him, including a skull-mask soldier. He immediately walks to him and asks: "Hey Ghost! Have you rescued all the Doves?"

"The alive ones, only. There are some who are already dead when we arrive." Ghost replies, shaking his head disappointingly.

"Hey, at least it's not because of stray bullets." Nero reassures. He then notices the Alto Angelo walking to the journalists. "Uh… Is that Alto malfunctioning? It didn't disappear even after the battle…"

Ghost turns back and shouts his order to his squad to continue helping the JSDF, before he pats Nero's shoulder and gestures him to go to the living armor. The devil hunter nods and the duo heads to the journalists…

"LOOK AT THOSE WOUNDED! THE MAJORITY OF THEM ARE TEENAGE GIRLS AND ELDERLY PEOPLE WHO HAVE LOST LIMBS! HOW COULD THE JSDF'S RESCUE OPERATION LET THE CIVILLIANS BE INVOLVED INTO THIS?" One of the journalists starts spouting those unconfirmed details on broadcast. "WE URGE THE GOVERNMENT TO PAY STRICTER ATTENTION TO JSDF! IF THIS IS…" He plans to say more, however, he sees his cameramen widen their eyes in shock as they see something behind him. The journalist turns back and sees a huge armor walking towards him, causing him to back away in fear. The armor then grabs the person's mic and crushes it with only one hand, and drops the scraps down to the floor, stunning everyone around it.

"Pathetic." The armor speaks up, its voice echoes in the air that catches the attention of all journalists, as all of the cameras point towards it. "Don't spill out nonsenses that you don't know one bit about. Everyone wants honest news, not conflicting rumors."

What follows next are snapping sounds of cameras, with questions being thrown towards the armor. The head of the armor slowly turns left and right while gathering the questions the journalists are throwing at it. Once the journalists slow down a bit, the armor then speaks: "What I'm telling you is nothing short of truth, or facts if you prefer it that way. The wounded here aren't just simple civilians. They are all brave knights that protected the Ambassadors of Japan under the order of the Emperor when one of the factors inside the Empire wanted to kill your people. Their scars are solid proof that they have done their work perfectly, and now we should pay our respects to them, by not saying wrong things about this situation."

That earns the armor even more questions asking about the current situation in Empire, and why the Ambassadors of Japan were attacked. "To put it simply, it's a mini civil war inside of the system. Some of their higher-ups are not in the agreement of the treaty, and one side wanted to lock the opposite one… And why we saved one side, it's because peace is better than war. We rescued the peaceful faction because we don't want any further unnecessary bloodshed. It's both political and humanity reason."

That's enough for the cameramen to continue flashing their cameras to the armor. Ignoring the further questions, the armor slowly turns to Nero and Ghost, as the latter reports: "No soldiers were killed during the fight. Civilian casualties are zero, but the collateral damage to the city is high."

"It's to be expected. Well done." The armor's helmet nods. "Return back to Research Land, your work here is done excellently."

Now Nero understands why this one Alto is different. "You really pulled out the Sanctus' move, Kuro? You could just have one of us talking to the audience here."

"Better to say it myself rather than someone else delivering the message. Besides, you're not really in the right position to talk about it." The 'armor' replies back, confirming the owner of the voice.

"So what's your course now?" Ghost asks.

"To Akusho for a stop, then to the Palace. We're escorting a VIP. I will send the order later if necessary. For now, you're dismissed." The armor then shines up and bursts out into light, leaving white feathers behind.

That makes Nero chuckle. "Dramatic exit, huh?" He then turns to Credo, who just answered a few questions from the journalists. "Hey Credo, what are we going to do now?"

"Isn't that obvious? Let's return before there are more questions bombarding us."

…

"That face of his is priceless." Noriko grins as she sees the broadcast from one of the camps. She then asks the giggling Peace: "So that's your brother in that armor?"

"I don't think so." The younger sister replies. "He probably connected his mind to it to temporarily talk to everyone."

"Well, even if he's not directly there, he surely caused a stir in journalism. Let's see what they could throw on the news with that announcement. But, given by his personality, I bet he would do something reckless just to get some pictures."

"Then my brother is going to have a LONG conversation about that with him in the future, I could tell."

* * *

"Destroying the Alnus Hill's Gate? Won't that disconnect him with his old world?" Schwarz asks in surprise at one of his father's plans.

"Not at all. The objective is to destroy the structure that caused the strains in space." Histoire explains. "He will find some other ways to open the portal without having to create a permanent archon to hold it in place."

"Shouldn't that be instantly dealt with? I mean, T.O could go in place of…"

"Political reasons, Weiss." Arfoire says. "We will have to make a good schedule with the JSDF before the plan could start."

"About the Palace… should we go and help him?" Schwarz doesn't want his father to bear all the work.

"There's no need. JSDF in Akusho would be a great help."

* * *

Nighttime

Itami's group has stopped midway and camped next to a forest. Currently, nearly everyone has gone to sleep…

"Still awake, Kuro?" The elder elf walks to the campfire, where the god in the group is sitting while looking at the burning fire. "What's in your mind?"

"Ah, it's nothing. Just re-ordering something in Research Land." Kuro replies, not changing his position.

Sitting down next to Kuro, Hodor continues his questioning: "So, we're going to face the whole guard squad of Zorzal directly, and then bring the Princess out of the Capital?"

"And check on the Emperor as well. I mean, this world doesn't have healing spells, and the poison the Emperor seemed to be pretty strong."

"That's if their medics allow you to meet him."

"Yeah, that's a problem…"

"Something's bothering you, I can see it in your eyes."

"…Isn't that too obvious?"

"Knowing you, it must be about the lives of the Imperial soldiers being killed because of the Prince's reckless and stupid orders, right?"

"Yeah. Never the fan for those events." Kuro throws a nearby stick to the bonfire. "If it's my decision, I will kill him in the next few days…"

"No hesitation?"

"No hesitation. But, since this world's gods are not letting him die yet… he will live, for now."

"Hey, buddy… don't let this affect your train of thought. You still have people to take care of, and I'm sure they're not going to like you breaking down once more."

"Yeah… I know."

"Just a reminder. Get some rest."

"The same to you."


	15. END OF THE ORIGINAL BEGIN OF REVISION

**Okay, you know what? I was planning to start writing the next chapter... then I read Chosen-One-92's review...**

**Screw that chapter! I'm writing this story all over again!**

**I will be honest, I did rush this story too fast. If you have noticed, after the first five chapters, the quality of the story went downhill. Points of view were screwed up, time jumps caused too many confusions even to me when I re-read my own story. And I have underestimated the complication of the GATE original story. Also my start as the THIRD attack from Sedaran was a REALLY BAD move.**

**SO! Even though the critical events are still the same (somewhat), I will rewrite it so the story could be easier for you guys to understand. And I will spoil it right from the beginning: The category for the story is still the same as X-Over & Gate crossover, the three Core worlds will be Earth, Falmart and Hyperdimension's Gamindustri from Neptunia series. Any further crossover materials will be added during the story.**

**Thank you, Chosen-One-92, for writing that out that makes me realize my mistakes.**


End file.
